SHE's loveliest of the festal throng In delicate form and Grecian face, -- A beautiful, incarnate song, A marvel of harmonious grace, And yet I know the truth I speak: From those gay groups she stands apart, A rose upon her tender cheek, A thorn within her heart. Though bright her eyes' bewildering gleams, Fair tremulous lips and shining hair, A something born of mournful dreams Breathes round her sad enchanted air; No blithesome thoughts at hid and seek From out her dimples smiling start; If still the rose be on her cheek, A thorn is in her heart. Young lover, tossed 'twixt hope and fear, Your whispered vow and yearning eyes Yon marble Clytie pillared near Could move as soon to soft replies; Or, if she thrill at words you speak, Love's memory prompts the sudden start; The rose has paled upon her cheek, The thorn has pierced her heart. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPEAKING TERMS by JAMES GALVIN TO W.E.B. DUBOIS - SCHOLAR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON ON A PALMETTO by SIDNEY LANIER AUTUMN SONG by KATHERINE MANSFIELD SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: GODWIN JAMES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |