 | Poems by Rose Terry |  |
202
WHITE AND RED.
Roses and daisies, lovingly they grow,
Redder than a sunset, milkier than snow;
Side by side they glitter in the grasses lithe,
Side by side they wither, swept before the scythe.
Redder than a sunset, milkier than snow;
Side by side they glitter in the grasses lithe,
Side by side they wither, swept before the scythe.
Down in the valley sits Lina at her wheel,
While along the mountains twilight-shadows steal,
Singing through the daylight softly as a bird,
All that summer whispers in her song you heard.
While along the mountains twilight-shadows steal,
Singing through the daylight softly as a bird,
All that summer whispers in her song you heard.
Night came on like morning, cold and still and gray,
Over Alpine summits a threat of tempest lay,
Lina stopped her singing, and trimmed her taper bright,
Her lover on the mountains watched for the beacon-light.
Over Alpine summits a threat of tempest lay,
Lina stopped her singing, and trimmed her taper bright,
Her lover on the mountains watched for the beacon-light.
All night long she waited, listening to the rain,
That muttered in the fir-trees and rustled on the pane.
Shrieking like a spirit, the morning west-wind blew,
And flickered in the casement the watch-light burning true.
That muttered in the fir-trees and rustled on the pane.
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And flickered in the casement the watch-light burning true.
Lina to the threshold turned her trembling feet.
Saints in heaven, preserve her, such a sight to meet!
The dead-white face before her,—the roaring stream below.
The water-sprite, at dead of night, had wrought her mortal woe.
Saints in heaven, preserve her, such a sight to meet!
The dead-white face before her,—the roaring stream below.
The water-sprite, at dead of night, had wrought her mortal woe.
Two biers to the chapel bear the friars gray,
Over two pale corpses the funeral mass they say.
Lina and her lover are gathered to their rest,—
So we one day shall pass away, and live among the blest.
Over two pale corpses the funeral mass they say.
Lina and her lover are gathered to their rest,—
So we one day shall pass away, and live among the blest.
Roses and daisies!—through the world they shine,
Blood-red blooms of sorrow, dreams of peace divine,
Only up in glory the quiet angels wear
Wreaths of spotless calmness, lilies pure and fair.
Blood-red blooms of sorrow, dreams of peace divine,
Only up in glory the quiet angels wear
Wreaths of spotless calmness, lilies pure and fair.
| Poems by Rose Terry | |