Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THREE ROSES, by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THREE ROSES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Just when the red june roses blow
Last Line: My world was gained and lost.
Alternate Author Name(s): Berwick, Mary
Subject(s): Flowers; June; Roses


JUST when the red June Roses blow
She gave me one, -- a year ago.
A Rose whose crimson breath revealed
The secret that its heart concealed,
And whose half-shy, half-tender grace
Blushed back upon the giver's face.
A year ago -- a year ago --
To hope was not to know.

Just when the red June Roses blow
I plucked her one, -- a month ago:
Its half-blown crimson to eclipse,
I laid it on her smiling lips;
The balmy fragrance of the south
Drew sweetness from her sweeter mouth.
Swiftly do golden hours creep, --
To hold is not to keep.

The red June Roses now are past,
This very day I broke the last, --
And now its perfumed breath is hid,
With her, beneath a coffin-lid;
There will its petals fall apart,
And wither on her icy heart:
At three red Roses' cost
My world was gained and lost.





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