University of Virginia Library

SHE'S DEAD.

The sycamore shall hear its bees again—
The willow droop its green adown the sun;
But thou, O heart, shalt yearn for Spring in vain—
Thy Mays are done!
Even from the graveyard elms, the rook shall caw
Of love; of love, the dove shall make its moan;
New Springs shall see the bliss my glad Springs saw—
I, grief alone.
O heart! to whose sweet pulses danced the year,
The dirge above thy gladness hath been sung;
The faded hours, upon thy youth's sad bier,
Have grave-flowers flung!
She died—and with her died, O life, for thee,
The flush of love, and all hope's cloudless dreams!
Sunless—of mirth, henceforth, thou, heart, must see
But moonlight gleams.

479

O shrouded sweetness! Lo! those lips are white;
The roses of the year no more are red!
What is the silver lily to our sight?
Thou—thou art fled!
O life! O sadness! thou the deepening gloom
Of dying Autumn for thy skies would'st crave—
Would'st see all beauty, withering to the tomb,
Fade o'er her grave!