Classic Poem

I.

Fairest of flowers by fountain or lake.
Listen, my fawn-eyed one, wake, oh awake!
Pride of the prairies, one look from thy bower
Will gladden my spirits like dew-drops the flower.

II.

Thy glances to music my soul can attune,
As sweet as the murmur of young leaves in June;
Then breathe but a whisper from lips that disclose
A balm like the morning or autumn's last rose.

III.

My pulse leaps toward thee like fountains when first
Through their ice chains in April toward Heaven they burst;
Then, fairest of flowers, by forest or lake,
Listen, my fawn-eyed one, wake, oh awake!

IV.

Like this star-paved water where clouds o'er it lower,
If thou frownest, beloved, is my soul in that hour;
But when Heaven and thou, love, your smiles will unfold,
If the current be ruffled, its ripples are gold.

V.

Awake, love; all nature is smiling, yet I,
I cannot smile, dearest, when thou art not by;
Look from thy bower then, here on the lake,
Pulse of my beating heart, wake, oh awake!