Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.djvu/1036

 And the tears shall flow faster and faster, Brim over and baffle resistance, And roll down blear'd roads to each distance Of past desolation and years; Till they cover the place of each sorrow, And leave you no past and no morrow: For what man is able to master And stem the great Fountain of Tears?

But the floods and the tears meet and gather; The sound of them all grows like thunder: —O into what bosom, I wonder, Is pour'd the whole sorrow of years? For Eternity only seems keeping Account of the great human weeping: May God, then, the Maker and Father— May He find a place for the tears!

JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY

1844-1890

831. A White Rose

The red rose whispers of passion, And the white rose breathes of love; O, the red rose is a falcon, And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud With a flush on its petal tips; For the love that is purest and sweetest Has a kiss of desire on the lips.