We stood beneath the trysting tree
One summer evening long ago;
The leaves were rustling drowsily,
The air was still, the sun was low;
The songsters in the woods were dumb,
No sound came from the breezy down;
But, faint and deep, a ceaseless hum
Rose upward from the crowded town.
Her hand I held within mine own;
I saw her bosom fall and rise,
While lovingly upon the shone
The sunshine splendour of her eyes.
And standing in the twilight there,
I carved her name upon the tree;
She loosed the night of her long hair.
And gave a silken tress to me.
I hid the token in my breast,
My heart leaped up with sudden joy,
And in wild words my tongue confessed
The first love-passion of a boy.
Ah me! the deep tumultuous bliss
That thrilled my bosom when I felt
Her stooping down to print a kiss
Upon my forehead as I knelt!
And then I vowed though her dear name
Might fade from off the gnarled tree,
My love would still remain the same,
And I would never faithless be!
So home we sauntered, while the night
Hung all its star-lamps out on high,
And the moon framed with tremulous light
A silver pathway to the sky.
But often when the leafy wood
Was wrapt in shadowy gloom, I came
To see the place where she had stood
And kiss the letters of her name.
Her love I cherished in my soul,
And deemed that it would ever bloom
In life, and through the years that roll
Their endless course beyond the tomb!
But, oh! the world is full of change!
And boyhood's days glide swiftly by:
Our early loves grow cold and strange,
And all youth's bright enchantments fly.
The other day again I stood
Where passed my boyhood wild and free;
I left the town, and sought the wood,
And found the well-remembered tree:
All seemed the same. The woods were dumb,
No sound came from the breezy down,
But faint and deep, a drowsy hum
Rose upward from the crowded town: —
And standing there, I thought, " Ah me!
How soon from youth's fond joys we part!"
The name was blotted from the tree;
The love had withered from my heart.
One summer evening long ago;
The leaves were rustling drowsily,
The air was still, the sun was low;
The songsters in the woods were dumb,
No sound came from the breezy down;
But, faint and deep, a ceaseless hum
Rose upward from the crowded town.
Her hand I held within mine own;
I saw her bosom fall and rise,
While lovingly upon the shone
The sunshine splendour of her eyes.
And standing in the twilight there,
I carved her name upon the tree;
She loosed the night of her long hair.
And gave a silken tress to me.
I hid the token in my breast,
My heart leaped up with sudden joy,
And in wild words my tongue confessed
The first love-passion of a boy.
Ah me! the deep tumultuous bliss
That thrilled my bosom when I felt
Her stooping down to print a kiss
Upon my forehead as I knelt!
And then I vowed though her dear name
Might fade from off the gnarled tree,
My love would still remain the same,
And I would never faithless be!
So home we sauntered, while the night
Hung all its star-lamps out on high,
And the moon framed with tremulous light
A silver pathway to the sky.
But often when the leafy wood
Was wrapt in shadowy gloom, I came
To see the place where she had stood
And kiss the letters of her name.
Her love I cherished in my soul,
And deemed that it would ever bloom
In life, and through the years that roll
Their endless course beyond the tomb!
But, oh! the world is full of change!
And boyhood's days glide swiftly by:
Our early loves grow cold and strange,
And all youth's bright enchantments fly.
The other day again I stood
Where passed my boyhood wild and free;
I left the town, and sought the wood,
And found the well-remembered tree:
All seemed the same. The woods were dumb,
No sound came from the breezy down,
But faint and deep, a drowsy hum
Rose upward from the crowded town: —
And standing there, I thought, " Ah me!
How soon from youth's fond joys we part!"
The name was blotted from the tree;
The love had withered from my heart.