 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
THE MARKED TREE.
It woke one morning in the summer dawn,
To spread its branches in the early light,
And wave its foliage o'er the flickering lawn,
As if the dancing leaves would fain take flight;
To spread its branches in the early light,
And wave its foliage o'er the flickering lawn,
As if the dancing leaves would fain take flight;
But in the midst of all that promise bright,
It paused and trembled like a frightened fawn,
Around whose lair the hunter's toils are drawn
Wrought in the silence of the secret night.
It paused and trembled like a frightened fawn,
Around whose lair the hunter's toils are drawn
Wrought in the silence of the secret night.
For on its stem no loving hand had laid
A little brand, that yet great shadows cast,
And showed the hour of doom was hastening fast;
A little brand, that yet great shadows cast,
And showed the hour of doom was hastening fast;
Its gladness at the fountain head was stayed,
As light departs from some defloweréd maid,
For death had come and marked it as he pass'd.
As light departs from some defloweréd maid,
For death had come and marked it as he pass'd.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |