Across the gardens of Life they go,
A strange, ill-mated pair;
By paths where naught but blossoms blow,
But paths neglected where gaunt weeds grow,
But hand in hand, through joy, through care,
Across the gardens of Life they go.
The one is old, and grim, and gray:
His eyes stare off, like one in dreams;
Across his breast his...
In each green leaf a memory let lie:
The pain that follows on the heels of bliss
In every thorn; each waft of incense be a sign
For love: each petal of each rose a kiss!
Like some great pearl from out the Orient,
Upheld by unseen hands,—in its rich weight
An offering to adorn a queen’s proud state
That offering to adorn a queen’s proud state
That some dependent princeling did present,—
The moon slow rises into night’s dark tent.
The pulseless air, with longings vague befreight,
Now quickens ’neath her...
