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The Rainbow and The Rose

by E. Nesbit
Nesbit, E. (1858-1924)

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[section]
  
[dedication]
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I.
  
THE THINGS THAT MATTER.
  
THE CONFESSION.
  
WORK.
  
THE JILTED LOVER TO HIS MOTHER.
  
THE WILL TO LIVE.
  
THE BEATIFIC VISION.
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II.
  
MUMMY WHEAT.
  
THE BEECH TREE.
  
IN ABSENCE.
  
SILENCE.
  
RAISON D'ÊTRE.
  
THE ONLOOKER.
  
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
  
AT PARTING.
  
SONG.
  
RENUNCIATION.
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III.
  
THE VEIL OF MAYA.
  
SONG.
  
TO VERA, WHO ASKED A SONG.
  
THE POET TO HIS LOVE.
  
THE MAIDEN'S PRAYER.
  
SONG.
  
THE MAGIC FLOWER.
  
LA DERNIÈRE ROBE DE SOIE.
  
THE LEAST POSSIBLE.
  
EN TOUT CAS.
  
APPEAL.
  
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY.
  
CHAGRIN D'AMOUR.
  
BRIDAL EVE.
  
LOVE AND LIFE.
  
FROM THE ITALIAN.
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IV.
  
“OUT OF THE FULNESS OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKETH.”
  
SUMMER SONG.
  
THE LOWER ROOM.
  
SONG.
  
MAY SONG.
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V.
  
TO IRIS.
  
TO A CHILD.
  
BIRTHDAY TALK FOR A CHILD.
  
TO ROSAMUND.
  
FROM THE TUSCAN.
  
MOTHER SONG.
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VI.
  
THE ISLAND.
  
POSSESSION.
  
ACCESSION.
  
THE DESTROYER.
  
THE EGOISTS.
  
THE WAY OF LOVE.
  
TO ONE WHO PLEADED FOR CANDOUR IN LOVE.
  
THE ENCHANTED GARDEN.
  
THE POOR MAN'S GUEST.
  
IN THE SHALLOWS.
  
“AND THE RAINS DESCENDED AND THE FLOODS CAME.”
  
THE STAR.
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VII.
  
THE PRODIGAL SON.
  
DESPAIR.
  
THE TEMPTATION.
  
SECOND NATURE.
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VIII.
  
THE OLD DISPENSATION.
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IX.
  
AFTER DEATH.
  
CHLOE.
  
INVOCATION.
  
THE LAST BETRAYAL.
  
TRUE LOVE AND NEW LOVE.
  
DEATH.
  
A PARTING.

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33

THE VEIL OF MAYA.

Sweet, I have loved before. I know
This longing that invades my days;
This shape that haunts life's busy ways
I know since long and long ago.
This starry mystery of delight
That floats across my eager eyes,
This pain that makes earth Paradise,
These magic songs of day and night—
I know them for the things they are:
A passing pain, a longing fleet,
A shape that soon I shall not meet,
A fading dream of veil and star.
Yet, even as my lips proclaim
The wisdom that the years have lent,
Your absence is joy's banishment,
And life's one music is your name.
I love you to my heart's hid core:
Those other loves? how should one learn
From marshlights how the great fires burn?
Ah, no! I never loved before!
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