Poems (Piatt)/Volume 1/A Woman's Birthday
A WOMAN'S BIRTHDAY[In August.]
It is the Summer's great last heat,It is the Fall's first chill: they meet.Dust in the grass, dust in the air,Dust in the grave—and everywhere!Ah, late rose, eaten to the heart:Ah, bird, whose southward yearnings start:The one may fall, the other fly.Why may not I? Why may not I?
Oh, Life! that gave me for my dowerThe hushing song, the worm-gnawed flower,Let drop the rose from your shrunk breastAnd blow the bird to some warm nest;Flush out your dying colours fast:The last dead leaf—will be the last.No? Must I wear your piteous smileA little while, a little while?
The withering world accepts her fateOf mist and moaning, soon or late;She had the dew, the scent, the springAnd upward rapture of the wing;Their time is gone, and with it they.And am I wooing Youth to stayIn these dry days, that still would beNot fair to me, not fair to me?
If Time has stained with gold the hair,Should he not gather greyness there?Whatever gifts he chose to make,If he has given, shall he not take?His hollow hand has room for allThe beauty of the world to fallTherein. I give my little partWith aching heart, with aching heart.