Page:Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems - Randall - 1908.pdf/116

 I bravely grew, wooed by a Southern sun,
 * A graceful tree, with opulence of tress.

The vital sap through all my fibers spun,
 * And dainty damsels gave me their caress.

A lovely matron all my senses won,
 * And so I longed her happy home to bless.

Anon, the winter stripped me of my leaves,
 * Until I stood disheveled and forlorn;

But still my tropic heart clung to the eaves
 * Of that dear household, in the night and morn.

Soon the lord Spring, who blesses and reprieves,
 * Poured emerald largess o’er my features shorn.

How have I thrilled when they I loved were gay,
 * In the warm sunshine and the alert breeze!

When round the festal board wit ruled the day
 * And wisdom was espoused to pleasantries.

How have I wished such happiness could stay,
 * Unsmitten always with sad memories!

Alas! there came a dread, dissolving scene
 * To snap the jocund circle of my friends!

So, one by one, they fled all things terrene,
 * To seek the mystic shore that never ends—

Where Mortal must on th’ Immortal lean,
 * Where the true Ideal with the Real blends.