Classic Poem

PRESENTED BY A FAIR GIRL .

O WHY do you fade so soon, fair flowers?
Is it for love of your native bowers?
For your sweet companions blooming there;
For the golden sunshine's loving care;
For the twilight dew,
So tender and true,
And the soft caress of the purple air?

Do ye miss the shadows cool and deep
Of leaves that whisper themselves to sleep?
Or pine for the kiss of the soft starlight
That trembled down, so still and white,
From its home above.
With its saintly love.
To sleep in your hearts through the livelong night?

Miss ye the song of the whippoorwill,
The rhythmic chant of the meadow rill?
Or the tinkling fall of summer rain,
That thrilled your fibres to joy and pain,
With the merry beat
Of its silvery feet,
And the plaintive tone of its far refrain?

Or, are ye bound by a magic spell
To the maiden who tended and loved ye well?
Miss ye the tread of her fairy feet —
The thrill of her laughter, low and sweet,
And her gentle face
Aglow with the grace
Of the tenderest heart that ever beat?

Pine ye for the dark brown eyes that shone,
Like precious gems in Parian stone?
For the dainty smile that seemed to break
In ripples of light, for love's dear sake,
Round the ruby mouth,
As winds from the south
Bedimple the breast of a quiet lake?

Her heart is as pure as thine, white rose,
Her brow as fair as thy fragrant snows,
Her thoughts like leaves in a sweet bud lie,
Wrapped in a beautiful mystery,
In purple and gold,
Her love untold,
Is hidden away from the cold world's eye.

I pray that her future path may lie
In the rosy light of a cloudless sky;
That tears and sorrow may never blight,
Nor leave a stain on a soul so white;
That her cheek and brow,
So radiant now,
May be ever lovely in Time's despite.