Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/316

 3IO A LOVER S STRATAGEM.

��A LOVER S STRATAGEM.

STILL love me, little sweetheart, Until arbutus pale Above the snow shall blossom, And brighten all the vale.

Arbutus-bloom is fading ;

Oh promise, sweetheart, still To love me till the blowing

Of golden daffodil.

Alas ! my little sweetheart,

The daffodils are dead ; Wilt love me till the roses

Unfold their robes of red ?

Ah ! roses die so quickly, All smothered with perfume ;

Don t quite forsake me, darling, Until the dahlias bloom.

Nay, one more promise, sweetheart Since dahlias have gone by,

Keep faith till everlastings

Shall bloom and fade and die.

Thus wisely sped my wooing Through blossom-epochs fair,

And this is why I treasure This fadeless flower with care.

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