 | Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
PICTURES IN THE FIRE.
The hickory coals were glowing bright
Upon the hearth so broad and wide,
And I was sitting in their light,
And Elsie by my side.
Upon the hearth so broad and wide,
And I was sitting in their light,
And Elsie by my side.
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The tangles of her cloudy hair
She pushed aside, and just to see
More plainly where the pictures were
She leaned upon my knee.
She pushed aside, and just to see
More plainly where the pictures were
She leaned upon my knee.
A rustic boy, with bare, brown feet,
Right where the coals were deepest red,
Binding up roses among wheat,
She saw, so plain, she said.
Right where the coals were deepest red,
Binding up roses among wheat,
She saw, so plain, she said.
And then to make me see him too,
About my neck, with witching grace,
She put her arm, and softly drew
My face against her face.
About my neck, with witching grace,
She put her arm, and softly drew
My face against her face.
Ah, is it strange I said I found
A picture that was very sweet,
But not a rustic boy that bound
Roses among his wheat!
A picture that was very sweet,
But not a rustic boy that bound
Roses among his wheat!
Dear Elsie, in her modest tire,
I painted then with bashful art,
And said I saw her in the fire
A burning in my heart.
I painted then with bashful art,
And said I saw her in the fire
A burning in my heart.
And is it strange if new delight
Shook out to flowers our budding souls?
The while we sat and watched that night
For pictures in the coals.
Shook out to flowers our budding souls?
The while we sat and watched that night
For pictures in the coals.
| Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |