TO HIS WIFE
1
In my young days, I pluck't a rose;
It grew upon a pleasant tree,—
No prickles on its stem arose,—
It never wounded me.
2
It grew upon a pleasant spot;
On mountain heath so fair,
And pleasant was the little cot;
Near which it flourished there.
3
I knew it when a blooming bud,
Nursed by the morning dew,
I knew the cottage where it stood,
And beautiful it grew.
4
Flowers on the hills had grown,
The woods were all in tune,
The bud became full blown;
The sweetest rose of June.
5
I saw it every day,
A hue that health will seek;
There's such a rose in May,
Comes on the maidens cheek.
6
I went again in spring;
'Twas somewere near the may,
Birds had begun to sing,—
When I took the rose away.
7
I planted it with care,
I watched it bloom from ill,
It scented all the air,
And blossoms sweeter still.
