Poems (Van Rensselaer)/The Sisters

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For works with similar titles, see The Sisters.
4645619Poems — The SistersMariana Griswold Van Rensselaer
THE SISTERS
I
Says the wind, I cannot find her,
And the house, I cannot bind her.
Birds can fly less fast than she,
Thistledown less tauntingly.
And when vapors veil the sun,
Then her rapid race is run,
And the falling raindrops lave
All she leaves us—just her grave.

Nay, that is not really she,
'Tis her sister, Gayety.

II
She, the true one, does not wander,
Seeketh not what lies beyond her;
Vagrant paths her footsteps shun,
And the boldness of the sun.
Rovers never share her smile,
Yet she smileth all the while,
And when dusk and raindrops come,
Still she sitteth in my home.

Gayety, how art thou less
Than thy sister, Happiness.