free-verse20 lines

Time, Hope, And Memory.

I heard a gentle maiden, in the spring,

Set her sweet sighs to music, and thus sing:

"Fly through the world, and I will follow thee,

Only for looks that may turn back on me;

"Only for roses that your chance may throw -

Though withered - Twill wear them on my brow,

To be a thoughtful fragrance to my brain, -

Warm'd with such love, that they will bloom again."

"Thy love before thee, I must tread behind,

Kissing thy foot-prints, though to me unkind;

But trust not all her fondness, though it seem,

Lest thy true love should rest on a false dream."

"Her face is smiling, and her voice is sweet;

But smiles betray, and music sings deceit;

And words speak false; - yet, if they welcome prove,

I'll be their echo, and repeat their love."

"Only if waken'd to sad truth, at last,

The bitterness to come, and sweetness past;

When thou art vext, then turn again, and see

Thou hast loved Hope, but Memory loved thee."