 | The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
THE MONKEYS
There is a love that lights the eye,
And flashes on the brow,
Its music is a whispered word,
Its seal a burning vow.
And flashes on the brow,
Its music is a whispered word,
Its seal a burning vow.
There is a love that hides his torch
Beneath the rosy bowl;
And when the wine has passed the lip
He warms the reveller's soul.
Beneath the rosy bowl;
And when the wine has passed the lip
He warms the reveller's soul.
There is a love that only comes
When joy and hope have flown,
And on the ruins of the past
He builds his lonely throne.
When joy and hope have flown,
And on the ruins of the past
He builds his lonely throne.
There is a quiet sort of love
That comes to later years;
When men have sighed away their sighs,
And wept away their tears.
That comes to later years;
When men have sighed away their sighs,
And wept away their tears.
But not the love that speaks in words,
Or in the wine-cup burns,
Nor that when memory's silent step
To pleasure's grave returns,—
Or in the wine-cup burns,
Nor that when memory's silent step
To pleasure's grave returns,—
And not the love that dotards feel
Creep through their shivering veins,—
Is like the love these sweet ones felt
On Asia's scorching plains.
Creep through their shivering veins,—
Is like the love these sweet ones felt
On Asia's scorching plains.
Oh could she speak—she cannot speak—
And what have words to tell?
The trembling hand—the blushing cheek—
He reads their language well.
And what have words to tell?
The trembling hand—the blushing cheek—
He reads their language well.
The palms around their cradle rocked,
The streams beneath it rolled;
They swept through leaves of orient die,
They tossed on sands of gold.
The streams beneath it rolled;
They swept through leaves of orient die,
They tossed on sands of gold.
The earth was green, the skies were bright,
The air was sweet with sound,
While thousand birds with painted wings,
Made melody around.
The air was sweet with sound,
While thousand birds with painted wings,
Made melody around.
There are two little grassy mounds,
And sleeping side by side,
Lie buried in the cold damp earth
The monkey and his bride!
And sleeping side by side,
Lie buried in the cold damp earth
The monkey and his bride!
Oh, it was ever so with love—
The flower that Eden gave—
That where it rose in freshest glow,
Beneath it lay the grave!
The flower that Eden gave—
That where it rose in freshest glow,
Beneath it lay the grave!
| The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |