Classic Poem

A ROSE like a hollow cup with a brim,—
A brim as pink as the after-glow;
Deep down in its heart gold stamens swim,
Tremble and swim in a sea of snow.
My Love set it safe in a crystal glass,
Gently as petals float down at noon.
Low, in a whisper, my Love's voice said:
“Look quick! In an hour it will be dead.
I picked it because it will die so soon.
Now listen, dear Heart, as the seconds pass,
What the rose will say,” my Love's voice said.

I look and I listen. The flushed pink brim
Is still as June's warmest after-glow;
Silent as stars the gold stamens swim,
Tremble and swim in their sea of snow.
I dare not breathe on the crystal glass,
Lest one sweet petal should fall too soon.
False was the whisper my Love's voice said,—
If he had not picked it, it had been dead;
But now it will live an eternal noon,
And I shall hear as the seconds pass
What the rose will say till I am dead.