Poems and Essays By the late William Caldwell Roscoe. (Edited with a Prefatory Memoir, by his Brother-in-law, Richard Holt Hutton) |
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 | Poems and Essays |  |
36
THE GOLDEN DAYS.
Dark-eyed Helen, when I loved thee
In the green year's early prime;
When I loved thee and approved thee,
In the sunny April time;
In the green year's early prime;
When I loved thee and approved thee,
In the sunny April time;
Swiftly the delightful season
Over our young heads did pass;
Much of love we then did reason,
Or read the Poets in the grass.
Over our young heads did pass;
Much of love we then did reason,
Or read the Poets in the grass.
I remember, that sweet Easter,
How the cuckoo overhead
Perched, and, singing, never ceased her
Ill-betiding note of dread.
How the cuckoo overhead
Perched, and, singing, never ceased her
Ill-betiding note of dread.
I remember how we laughed then
That the bird should waste her throat,
Yet our strained ears had not quaffed then
Philomel's enchanting note.
That the bird should waste her throat,
Yet our strained ears had not quaffed then
Philomel's enchanting note.
Nor any love's still-burning ember
Have here these idle verses sung;—
But only that we might remember
The golden days when we were young.
Have here these idle verses sung;—
But only that we might remember
The golden days when we were young.
37
Oh, golden days, untouched by sorrow,
Fair, fair, you shine from where I stand,
The tenant of a bitter morrow,
And dweller in a different land.
Fair, fair, you shine from where I stand,
The tenant of a bitter morrow,
And dweller in a different land.
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