Poems (Chandler)/If

by Louise Chandler Moulton

For works with similar titles, see If.

IF.

HAT had I been, lost Love, if you had loved me?
 A woman, smiling as the smiling May,—
As gay of heart as birds that carol gaily
 Their sweet young songs to usher in the day—

As ardent as the skies that brood and brighten
 O'er the warm fields in summer's happy prime,—
As tender as the veiling grace that softens
 The harshest shapes in twilight's tender time.

Like the soft dusk I would have veiled your harshness
 With tendernesses that were not your due,—
Your very faults had blossomed into virtues
 Had you known how to love me and be true.

It had been well for you,—for me how blessed!
 But shall we ask the wind to blow for aye
From the same quarter,—keep as full for ever
 The white moon smiling in a changeless sky?

Change is the law of wind and moon and lover,—
 And yet, I think, lost Love, had you been true,
Some golden fruits had ripened for your plucking
 You will not find in gardens that are new.