  HOW sweet the pink flush there in the west, With the golden bars—let us sit a space— I want to talk to you as we rest— Sit where my eyes can dwell on your face. I have been thinking of you to-day, You smile as you listen. Is there an hour I’m not in her thoughts, I hear you say— Look at that butterfly hid in a flower. Yes, I have been thinking all day long, For the fancy came and it will not go, That if I were to die—I am strong, ’Tis only a fancy of mine, you know. Only a fancy (you take my breath With your passionate kisses) people die, And happiness is no bar to death Or we never need fear him, you nor I. Only a fancy, so don’t look grave, We’ll be together for years to come, But, listen, would you be good and brave If Death, God’s reaper, came into our home? Would you remember the full glad years, And remembering them forget to weep? We have been happy, no need for tears If one of us, dear one, should fall asleep. Living without me would break your heart, “O sorrow of joys remembered!” You cry, Keep all the brightness though far apart, Explain my meaning—well dear, I will try. One summer morning I heard a lark Singing to heaven, a sweet-throated bird, One winter night I was glad in the dark, Because of the glorious song I had heard. “The joy of my life,” I’ve heard you say, “With her love and laughter, her smiles and tears”— Let these be the lark’s song, sweet and gay, That will sound in your heart through all the years. For tell me, dear one, what is love worth If it cannot crowd in the time ’tis given To two like us, on this grey old earth, Such bliss as will last till we reach heaven? So, if I should die just bend your head, And kiss my lips as I lie at rest, Whisper, I love you living or dead Always and ever I love you best. Why talk of it now? A woman’s whim, We are whimsical creatures, as you know— Look yonder, the twilight soft and dim Comes hurrying over the world below. [Decorative image unavailable.] |
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