GIVE me, O friend, the secret of thy heart Safe in my breast to hide, So that the leagues which keep our lives apart May not our souls divide. Give me the secret of thy life to lay Asleep within mine own, Nor dream that it shall mock thee any day By any sign or tone. Nay, as in walking through some convent-close, Passing beside a well, Oft have we thrown a red and scented rose To watch it as it fell; Knowing that never more the rose shall rise To shame us, being dead; Watching it spin and dwindle till it lies At rest, a speck of red -- Thus, I beseech thee, down the silent deep And darkness of my heart, Cast thou a rose; give me a rose to keep, My friend, before we part. For, as thou passest down thy garden-ways, Full many a blossom there Groweth for thee: lilies and laden bays, And rose and lavender. But down the darkling well one only rose In all the year is shed; And o'er that chill and secret wave it throws A sudden dawn of red. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE STORY OF FIORDISPINA, FR. ORLANDO FURIOSO by LUDOVICO (LODOVICO) ARIOSTO SONNET (3) by JOACHIM DU BELLAY IN MEMORIAM, NINTH OF AB by BEN AVROM ADMONITION by FREDERIKA BLACKNER A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 14 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |