Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/260

 254 THE TUBEROSE.

We read it, mayhap with a smile, Then toss it by idly, undreaming

That, rescued, we ll scan it again

With glances through bitter rain streaming.

Its chance words of tenderness then Like gold from the mass shall be sifted j

The speech of our ev ry-day life

Into grandeur and greatness be lifted.

All harshness shall fold itself down, As the calyx shrinks under the flower ;

All blemishes vanish and fade

In the loving regrets of that hour.

The last little blossom dropped out

From the hand on the bank of the river,

Shall tell from its petals adroop

Sweet stories of love from the giver.

��THE TUBEROSE.

FLAGONS of odor set ! Pour draughts of your summer wine ; Come rock on my heart a while, Fair stars on the earth ashine. I ve loved languid lilies well,

Have gathered red roses sweet, Upreached for laburnum gold, Plucked clover about my feet ;

�� �