I. GIVE me a rose not merely sweet and fresh, Not only red and bright, But caught about in such a thorny mesh As rankles in delight. Smile on me, Sweet; but look not only kind: The smile that most endears Trembles on pallid lips from eyes half-blind With brine of bitter tears. II. Ah, could I clasp thee in mine arms, And thou not feel me there, Asleep and free from vain alarms, Asleep and unaware! Ah, could I kiss thy pallid cheek, And thou not know me nigh; Asleep at last, and very meek, Who wert as proud as I. III. We did not dream, my Heart, and yet With what a pang we woke at last! We were not happy in the past It is so bitter to forget. We did not hope, my Soul, for Heaven; Yet now the hour of death is nigh, How hard, how strange it is to die Like leaves along the tempest driven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FORBIDDEN FRUIT: 2 by EMILY DICKINSON A THOUGHT IN TWO MOODS by THOMAS HARDY UPON PRUE, HIS MAID by ROBERT HERRICK THREE KINGS OF ORIENT by JOHN HENRY HOPKINS JR. WORKING GIRLS by CARL SANDBURG |