THESE sweet, swift hours, though they are so few, Are green oases in my desert heart; They hearten me for all the other hours That know you not, that keep us far apart. In the dim aisles of my dull life's routine They gleam like golden tapers in the dark; They are to me as to the silent dawn The sudden singing of the soaring lark. They are rare jewels that are tossed to me, Not as a gift, but carelessly by fate. And yet, I hoard and guard them jealously. For all that I have not, they compensate. But they are few, dear God, they are so few, These sweet, swift hours that I have with you! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 27 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING A POET'S WELCOME TO HIS LOVE-BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by ROBERT BURNS NEEDLESS FEAR by EMILY DICKINSON ON LOOKING INTO GOLDING'S OVID by STEVE SCAFIDI JR. EYE-SHAPED, MOUTH-SHAPED by MARGARET AHO |