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Poems Lyrical and Dramatic

By Evelyn Douglas [i.e. J. E. Barlas]
  

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THE POET AND THE TREE.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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THE POET AND THE TREE.

Upon a night of moonlight mild
That bare a stormful morn,
A pear-tree and a poet-child
Within one hour were born.
They grew together day by day
In beauty and in power;
He lisped his earliest song the May
It bore its earliest flower.
Then he went forth in strength and pride
To conquer man's cold heart;
He left the tree his young heart's bride,
And fought his fight apart.
He fought with grief: he quelled despair:
A soul serene and meek;

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But tarnished grew his yellow hair,
And faded was his cheek.
He came again, he found it still
In blossom as of old;
It struck him with a sudden chill:
He fell down dead and cold.