| |
| “I DREAMED that we were lovers still, | |
| As tender as we used to be | |
| When I brought you the daffodil, | |
| And you looked up and smiled at me.” | |
| |
| “True sweethearts were we then, indeed, | 5 |
| When youth was budding into bloom; | |
| And now the flowers are gone to seed, | |
| And breezes have left no perfume.” | |
| |
| “Because you ever, ever will | |
| Take such a crooked view of things, | 10 |
| Distorting this and that, until | |
| Confusion ends in cavillings.” | |
| |
| “Because you never, never will | |
| Perceive the force of what I say; | |
| As if I always reasoned ill— | 15 |
| Enough to take one’s breath away!” | |
| |
| “But what if riper love replace | |
| The vision that enchanted me, | |
| When all you did was perfect grace, | |
| And all you said was melody?” | 20 |
| |
| “And what if loyal heart renew | |
| The image never quite foregone, | |
| Combining, as of yore, in you | |
| A Samson and a Solomon?” | |
| |
| “Then to the breezes will I toss | 25 |
| The straws we split with temper’s loss; | |
| Then seal upon your lips anew | |
| The peace that gentle hearts ensue.” | |
| |
| “Oh, welcome then, ye playful ways, | |
| And sunshine of the early days; | 30 |
| And banish to the clouds above | |
| Dull reason, that bedarkens love!” | |
| |
