Dreamers and Other Poems

<p><SPAN name="THREE_SONGS_IN_A_GARDEN" id="THREE_SONGS_IN_A_GARDEN"></SPAN>THREE SONGS IN A GARDEN</p> <span style="margin-left: 7em;"><b>I</b></span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">White rose-leaves in my hands,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I toss you all away;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">The winds shall blow you through the world</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">To seek my wedding day.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or East you go, or West you go</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And fall on land or sea,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Find the one that I love best</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bring him here to me.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if he finds me spinning</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis short I'll break my thread;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if he finds me dancing</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'll dance with him instead;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">If he finds me at the Mass&mdash;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">(Ah, let this not be,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lest I forget my sweetest saint</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">The while he kneels by me!)</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 7em;"><b>II</b></span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">My lilies are like nuns in white</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">That guard me well all day,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the red, red rose that near them grows</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is wiser far than they.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, red rose, wise rose,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Keep my secret well;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I kiss you twice, I kiss you thrice</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">To pray you not to tell.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">My lilies sleep beneath the moon,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">But wide awake are you,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you have heard a certain word</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And seen a dream come true.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, red rose, wise rose,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Silence for my sake,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor drop to-night a petal light</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lest my white lilies wake.</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 7em;"><b>III</b></span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will the garden never forget</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">That it whispers over and over,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Where is your lover, Nanette?</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where is your lover&mdash;your lover?"</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, roses I helped to grow,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh, lily and mignonette,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must you always question me so,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Where is your lover, Nanette?"</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Since you looked on my joy one day,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is my grief then a lesser thing?</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have you only this to say</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">When I pray you for comforting?</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now that I walk alone</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Here where our hands were met,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must you whisper me every one,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Where is your lover, Nanette?"</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have mourned with you year and year,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the Autumn has left you bare,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now that my heart is sere</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Does not one of your roses care?</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, help me forget&mdash;forget,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor question over and over,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Where is your lover, Nanette?</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where is your lover&mdash;your lover?"</span><br/> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />