Page:The complete poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.pdf/62


 * Dear heart, good-night!

Thy hand I'll press no more forever,
 * And mine eyes shall lose the light;

For the great white wraith by the winding river
 * Shall check my steps with might.
 * So, dear, good-night, good-night!

you and I were young, the days
 * Were filled with scent of pink and rose,
 * And full of joy from dawn till close,

From morning's mist till evening's haze,
 * And when the robin sung his song
 * The verdant woodland ways along,
 * We whistled louder than he sung.

And school was joy, and work was sport For which the hours were all too short,
 * When you and I were young, my boy,
 * When you and I were young.

When you and I were young, the woods
 * Brimmed bravely o'er with every joy
 * To charm the happy-hearted boy.

The quail turned out her timid broods;
 * The prickly copse, a hostess fine,
 * Held high black cups of harmless wine;
 * And low the laden grape-vine swung

With beads of night-kissed amethyst Where buzzing lovers held their tryst,
 * When you and I were young, my boy,
 * When you and I were young.

When you and I were young, the cool
 * And fresh wind fanned our fevered brows
 * When tumbling o'er the scented mows,

Or stripping by the dimpling pool,
 * Sedge-fringed about its shimmering face,
 * Save where we'd worn an ent'ring place.
 * How with our shouts the calm banks rung!