Poems (Hoffman)/Under the Violets Blue
UNDER THE VIOLETS BLUE
Under the violets blue, under the lilies whiteDearest, must I or you hidden be first from sight,One left to mourn behind, one nevermore to sorrow?O, while we live be kind, glad bells may toll to-morrow!
Waken fond heart to prizeSweet days too brief—too brief for careless, vain forgetting,Soft light from happy eyesHeart knows no sorrow like the sorrow of regretting.Look, from the morning skiesIn clouds and in glory the golden sun is setting.
Over the violets blue cast wrong and strife behind,O, while we live be true! O, while we live be kind!Over the lilies white make sweet life's deepest sorrow,Ring happy bells to-night, bells that may toll to-morrow.