The Adolescent

I shivered in the morning dew
When, as the sunrise rose,
The cockcrow glow was almost due
And night was nigh at close;
I stooped and plucked a rose.

A sleepy badger tumbled through
Next to the pathway side
The dusky shadow that he threw
Chugged, docile, down the ride;
I wryly smiled and sighed.

I waited for my sweetheart, still,
An hour or more or two
The morning air was young and still
As wordless whispers blew;
And balmy breezes too.

Then, when at last she came along
And met me neath the shade
And said "Have you been waiting long
About this wooded glade ?"
I blushed a crimson shade.

I said "I've only now come here
The moment just gone by"
And wheezed these words for her to hear
(A shameful snow-white lie)
"This rose, I went to buy!".