Poems (Dorr)/What I Lost
WHAT I LOST
Wandering in the dewy twilight Of a golden summer day,When the mists upon the mountains Flushed with purple splendor lay:When the sunlight kissed the hilltops And the vales were hushed and dim,And from out the forest arches Rose a holy vesper hymn—I lost something. Have you seen it, Children, ye who passed that way?Did you chance to find the treasure That I lost that summer day?
It was neither gold nor silver, Orient pearl nor jewel rare;Neither amethyst nor ruby, Nor an opal gleaming fair;'Twas no curious, quaint mosaic Wrought by cunning master-hands,Nor a cameo where Hebe, Crowned with deathless beauty, stands.Yet have I lost something precious; Children, ye who passed that way—Tell me, have you found the treasure That I lost one summer day?
Then, you say, it was a casket Filled with India's perfumes rare, Or a tiny flask of crystal Meet the rose's breath to bearOr a bird of wondrous plumage, With a voice of sweetest tone,That, escaping from my bosom, To the greenwood deep has flown.Ah! not these, I answer vainly; Children, ye who passed that way,Ye can never find the treasure That I lost that summer day!
You may call it bird or blossom; Name my treasure what you will;Here no more its song or fragrance Shall my soul with rapture fill.But, thank God! our earthly losses In no darksome void are cast;Safely garnered, some to-morrow Shall restore them all at last.Somewhere in the great hereafter, Children, ye who pass this way,I shall find again the treasure That I lost one summer day!