Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HAWTHORN, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HAWTHORN, by                    
First Line: I see her where the budding may
Last Line: My forgotten may
Subject(s): Hawthorn;may (month);memory


I SEE her where the budding May
Throws shadows on the grassy way
And flecks her robe of white;
Unseen I watch her as she stands,
With fragrant hawthorn in her hands,
A vision of delight.

She stays, but will not tarry long
To hear the thrush's vernal song
In blossom-boughs above;
And in my sheltered garden-seat
I too can hear the carol sweet
Of songster's happy love.

From out the leaves that shade my face
I watch her in her girlish grace,
The daughter of my friend,
On whose sweet life, for whose sweet sake,
Love hath such precious things at stake,
In whom such heart ties blend.

My May-day maiden, thought runs back
O'er that long-trodden, sunlit track,
My own evanished youth,
When I, like her, was young and fair,
Like her, untouched by worldly care,
Unscarred by broken truth.

Like her, with sunshine on my way,
With scented blossoms of life's May
Plucked ready for my hand;
Like her, embarked on life's full tide
For joy's glad port, and by my side
True love at my command.

But shadows dimmed my summer day,
The blossoms of my early May
Lie buried in a grave.
Hope's tide ebbed out afar from port,
And left my little bark the sport
Of fortune's wind and wave.

Ah, well! the thrush's song is done,
And she steps forward in the sun,
She comes toward my bower,
To glad my weary, tear-dimmed eyes,
To lay before me as a prize
Her spray of hawthorn flower.

Dear heart! she brings me more than May;
The sunlight of a far-off day
Shines on me from her face.
Her heart renews for mine the truth,
The hope and springtide of its youth
In all their early grace.

She looks at me with eyes of love
Like those the turf has lain above
For many a weary day;
God bless her! for she brings again,
Across a lifetime's silent pain,
My unforgotten May.





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