Collected poems of Thomas Hardy With a portrait |
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THE FADING ROSE |
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 | Collected poems of Thomas Hardy |  |
THE FADING ROSE
I saw a rose, in bloom, but sad,
Shedding the petals that still it had,
And I heard it say: “O where is she
Who used to come and muse on me?
Shedding the petals that still it had,
And I heard it say: “O where is she
Who used to come and muse on me?
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“The pruner says she comes no more
Because she loves another flower,
The weeder says she's tired of me
Because I droop so suddenly.
Because she loves another flower,
The weeder says she's tired of me
Because I droop so suddenly.
“Because of a sweetheart she comes not,
Declares the man with the watering-pot;
‘She does not come,’ says he with the rake,
‘Because all women are fickle in make.’
Declares the man with the watering-pot;
‘She does not come,’ says he with the rake,
‘Because all women are fickle in make.’
“He with the spade and humorous leer
Says: ‘Know, I delve elsewhere than here,
Mid text-writ stones and grassy heaps,
Round which a curious silence creeps.
Says: ‘Know, I delve elsewhere than here,
Mid text-writ stones and grassy heaps,
Round which a curious silence creeps.
“‘She must get to you underground
If any way at all be found,
For, clad in her beauty, marble's kin,
'Tis there I have laid her and trod her in.’”
If any way at all be found,
For, clad in her beauty, marble's kin,
'Tis there I have laid her and trod her in.’”
| Collected poems of Thomas Hardy | |