 | Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge |  |
24
FROM FLOWER TO LIGHT.
In sorrow I tended my garden,
As the colors, day by day,
Faded and changed in the heedless air,
And passed with the summer away.
As the colors, day by day,
Faded and changed in the heedless air,
And passed with the summer away.
While they gladdened my beautiful garden,
Where the dews and the sunlight abide,
And crept up the wall to my window,
Or hid, as the sweetest will hide;
Where the dews and the sunlight abide,
And crept up the wall to my window,
Or hid, as the sweetest will hide;
While they lavished their splendor before me,
Not a flower had I heart to cull—
Till the heaven-lit flames of the latest
Went out, and my garden was dull.
Not a flower had I heart to cull—
Till the heaven-lit flames of the latest
Went out, and my garden was dull.
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O cruel the death of the blossoms,
And cruel the words that were said:
“Next Spring shall the earth be re-gladdened,
The living shall bloom from the dead.”
And cruel the words that were said:
“Next Spring shall the earth be re-gladdened,
The living shall bloom from the dead.”
Not for me would the blooming be, ever,
For my love, O my love! could not stay.
Hand in hand we had bent o'er their brightness,
And now he was passing away.
For my love, O my love! could not stay.
Hand in hand we had bent o'er their brightness,
And now he was passing away.
The heart-breaking flowers of next summer,
They will look at me, dreary and wan,
Or mock me, and taunt me, and madden—
O God, that the years should roll on!
They will look at me, dreary and wan,
Or mock me, and taunt me, and madden—
O God, that the years should roll on!
So I felt; and I would not look skyward,
Nor earthward, but only at him—
At him with his clear dying vision,
Who saw not the earth growing dim.
Nor earthward, but only at him—
At him with his clear dying vision,
Who saw not the earth growing dim.
At him, till alone in the garden
I stood with the husks of the flowers;
Alone, and the pitiless Autumn
Sent dead leaves about me, in showers.
I stood with the husks of the flowers;
26
Sent dead leaves about me, in showers.
“Look up!” he had whispered in parting;
“Look up!” said a voice to me then,—
And lo! the lost hues of my garden
Above me were glowing again!
“Look up!” said a voice to me then,—
And lo! the lost hues of my garden
Above me were glowing again!
Near by, in the wide-spreading maples;
Far-off, in the mist of the wood;
Around and above me they gathered,
And lit all the place where I stood.
Far-off, in the mist of the wood;
Around and above me they gathered,
And lit all the place where I stood.
My purples, my rose-tints and yellows,
My crimsons that gladdened his sight,
My glorious hues of the garden
Were living in sunnier height!
My crimsons that gladdened his sight,
My glorious hues of the garden
Were living in sunnier height!
Were living! were living! I knew it!
And the comfort that came to me so,
Endured when the forest was naked
And the grass covered over with snow.
And the comfort that came to me so,
Endured when the forest was naked
And the grass covered over with snow.
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For again I looked up and beheld them,
The souls of the flowers he had blest;
I saw them in glory transfigured
Far off in the wonderful West.
The souls of the flowers he had blest;
I saw them in glory transfigured
Far off in the wonderful West.
Contented, at last, I beheld them—
My colors immortal and bright—
Till the gates of the sunset, slow-folding,
Shut them out from my passionate sight.
My colors immortal and bright—
Till the gates of the sunset, slow-folding,
Shut them out from my passionate sight.
| Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge | |