Page:Poems Welby.djvu/91

THE BROKEN-HEARTED.

She faded slowly 'mid unwithering roses;
 In the first flush of youth, her heart had been
Bright as a full bud when it first discloses
 Its summer tints beneath its hood of green;
For there was one to whom her heart she'd given,
 Yet she had won no vow of love from him,
And shadows gathered o'er her sunny heaven
 Till e'en the lingering star of hope grew dim.

Life had to her been sweet as music measures,
 That steal forth from a lute on some faint breeze,
And her sweet thoughts were like uncounted treasures,
 That cluster in the depths of trembling seas;
There played around her lip a smile so winning,
 And in her eye there shone such tenderness,
That none could look on her and dream of sinning,
 She was so pure in virgin loveliness.

'T was when soft summer winds were lightly stirring,
 One golden eve in bright mid-summer time,
That first, with honeyed words and looks endearing,
 He stole within her path in manhood's prime;