We Walked among the Whispering Pines

It was a still autumnal day— So sadly still and strangely bright— The hectic glow of quick decay Tinged everything with lovely light. It warmly touched the fragrant air And fields of corn and crumbling vines Along the golden Yadkin, where We walked among the whispering pines Alas, that tender hectic glow Shone in her gentle, pallid face, And none save God in heaven could know My agony to see its trace— To watch those fatal roses bloom Upon her cheeks—red, cruel signs— But all of love, not of the tomb, We spoke among the whispering pines. Ah, fatal roses—never yet Have they deceived. She drooped and died. We parted and we never met Again; but often at my side An angel walks,—her step I know,— A viewless arm my neck entwines. O angel love, so years ago We walked among the whispering pines.

Collection: 

More from Poet

  • Here lived the soul enchanted By melody of song; Here dwelt the spirit haunted By a demoniac throng; Here sang the lips elated; Here grief and death were sated; Here loved and here unmated Was he, so frail, so strong. Here wintry winds and cheerless The dying firelight blew, While he...

  • When wintry days are dark and drear And all the forest ways grow still, When gray snow-laden clouds appear Along the bleak horizon hill, When cattle all are snugly penned And sheep go huddling close together, When steady streams of smoke ascend From farm-house chimneys,—in such weather...

  • When wintry days are dark and drear And all the forest ways grow still, When gray snow-laden clouds appear Along the bleak horizon hill, When cattle all are snugly penned And sheep go huddling close together, When steady streams of smoke ascend From farm-house chimneys,—in such weather...

  • It was a still autumnal day— So sadly still and strangely bright— The hectic glow of quick decay Tinged everything with lovely light. It warmly touched the fragrant air And fields of corn and crumbling vines Along the golden Yadkin, where We walked among the whispering pines Alas, that...

  • I think that we retain of our dead friends And absent ones no general portraiture; That perfect memory does not long endure, But fades and fades until our own life ends. Unconsciously, forgetfulness attends That grief for which there is no other cure, But leaves of each lost one some record sure...