Classic Poem

Has lavish summer brought the rose?
Why did my heart not know,
When every gossip wind that blows
Made haste to tell me so;

And all the birds went mad with glee,
And sang from morn till night;
And then the stars came out to see
What made the world so bright?

But I missed something from the time,
And so I did not guess
The meaning of the summer's rhyme,
Or the warm wind's caress.

Can gladness be where she is not?
Can roses bud and blow?
Does all the world but me forget
What now we must forego?

I care not for the day's kind grace,—
The magic of the night,—
Since with them comes no more the face
That was my heart's delight.