 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
THE SUMMER BOWER.
I
Love once built a summer bower,Fill'd with golden treasure:
“Here,” he said, “come shine or shower,
“I will pass my leisure.
“Care and grief, with brow severe,
“Never more shall enter here,
“And no winter in my year
“Shall disturb my pleasure.”
II
But, alas! as Time flew by,Love, by sameness haunted,
Pined for want of sympathy,
Sigh'd for something wanted.
180
Constant light obscured his way,
Weary grew the summer day
In that bower enchanted.
III
Wasting thus in lonely pride,Lo! a stranger sought him;
Walking sadly by his side,
To the world she brought him.
To the world of grief and care,
To the healthy open air,
And to pathways bleak and bare,
Where this truth she taught him:
IV
“Sorrow is my name,” she said;“Thou my strength must borrow:
“Tears to-day like rain-drops shed
“Feed the flowers to-morrow.”
Since that time, the world can prove
In a magic round they move;
Sorrow purifying Love,
Love consoling Sorrow.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |