Question
Do you love me
Or do you not?
You told me once
Or do you not?
You told me once
Marigolds
Do you like marigolds?
If you do
Then my garden is
Gay for you!
I've been cutting their
Fragrant stalks
Where they lean on
The garden walks.
The head's too heavy for
The brittle stem,
A careless touch and
You've broken them
Each one shines like a
Separate star
Set in some heaven where
Gardens are.
My hands smell of the
Herb-like scent,
Telling what garden
Way I went.
Pungent, vivid and
Strong, they stay
Long after Summer has
Gone away.
If you do
Then my garden is
Gay for you!
I've been cutting their
Fragrant stalks
Where they lean on
The garden walks.
The head's too heavy for
The brittle stem,
A careless touch and
You've broken them
Each one shines like a
Separate star
Set in some heaven where
Gardens are.
My hands smell of the
Herb-like scent,
Telling what garden
Way I went.
Pungent, vivid and
Strong, they stay
Long after Summer has
Gone away.
From Potomac to Merrimac
I. POTOMAC SIDE
Do you know how the people of all the land
Knew at last that the time was at hand
When He should be sent to give command
To armies and people, to father and son!
How the glad tidings of joy should run
Which tell of the birth of Washington?
Three women keep watch of the midnight sky
Where Potomac ripples below;
They watch till the light in the window hard by
The birth of the child shall show.
Do you know how the people of all the land
Knew at last that the time was at hand
When He should be sent to give command
To armies and people, to father and son!
How the glad tidings of joy should run
Which tell of the birth of Washington?
Three women keep watch of the midnight sky
Where Potomac ripples below;
They watch till the light in the window hard by
The birth of the child shall show.
A Double Standard
Do you blame me that I loved him?
If when standing all alone
I cried for bread a careless world
Pressed to my lips a stone.
Do you blame me that I loved him,
That my heart beat glad and free,
When he told me in the sweetest tones
He loved but only me?
Can you blame me that I did not see
Beneath his burning kiss
The serpent's wiles, nor even hear
The deadly adder hiss?
Can you blame me that my heart grew cold
That the tempted, tempter turned;
When he was feted and caressed
And I was coldly spurned?
If when standing all alone
I cried for bread a careless world
Pressed to my lips a stone.
Do you blame me that I loved him,
That my heart beat glad and free,
When he told me in the sweetest tones
He loved but only me?
Can you blame me that I did not see
Beneath his burning kiss
The serpent's wiles, nor even hear
The deadly adder hiss?
Can you blame me that my heart grew cold
That the tempted, tempter turned;
When he was feted and caressed
And I was coldly spurned?
Do They Miss Me at Home?
Do they miss me at home, do they miss me?
'T would be an assurance most dear
To know that this moment some loved one
Was saying, “Oh, were she but here!”
To know that the group at the fireside
Were thinking of me as I roam,—
Oh yes, 't would be joy beyond measure,
To know that they missed me at home!
When twilight approaches,—the season
That ever was sacred to song,—
Does some one repeat my name over,
And sigh that I tarry so long?
And is there a chord in the music
That's missed when my voice is away?
'T would be an assurance most dear
To know that this moment some loved one
Was saying, “Oh, were she but here!”
To know that the group at the fireside
Were thinking of me as I roam,—
Oh yes, 't would be joy beyond measure,
To know that they missed me at home!
When twilight approaches,—the season
That ever was sacred to song,—
Does some one repeat my name over,
And sigh that I tarry so long?
And is there a chord in the music
That's missed when my voice is away?
Do Something
Do something for somebody somewhere
While jogging along life's road;
Help someone to carry his burden,
And lighter will grow your load!
Do something for somebody gladly,
'Twill sweeten your every care;
In sharing the sorrows of others,
Your own are less hard to bear.
Do something for somebody, striving
To help where the way seems long.
And the sorrowful hearts that languish
Cheer up with a little song.
Do something for somebody always,
Whatever may be your creed,
There's nothing on earth can help you
While jogging along life's road;
Help someone to carry his burden,
And lighter will grow your load!
Do something for somebody gladly,
'Twill sweeten your every care;
In sharing the sorrows of others,
Your own are less hard to bear.
Do something for somebody, striving
To help where the way seems long.
And the sorrowful hearts that languish
Cheer up with a little song.
Do something for somebody always,
Whatever may be your creed,
There's nothing on earth can help you
A Wasted Sympathy
Do not waste your pity, friend,
When you see me weep as now;
Keep it to some better end.
When dry-eyed I went about
With a leaden heart locked in
By a silent tongue, ah! then
Had you brought it, it had been
Sweet indeed to me; but now
When the depths of my despair
Are upheaved and through the portals
Of my heart come free as air,
It is useless. If you please,
Give your thanks that to a woman
Tears are given, and be at ease.
When you see me weep as now;
Keep it to some better end.
When dry-eyed I went about
With a leaden heart locked in
By a silent tongue, ah! then
Had you brought it, it had been
Sweet indeed to me; but now
When the depths of my despair
Are upheaved and through the portals
Of my heart come free as air,
It is useless. If you please,
Give your thanks that to a woman
Tears are given, and be at ease.
Reconciliation
Do not torment me, woman, let us set our minds at one; you to be my mate in Ireland, and let us put our arms around each other.
Set your strawberry-coloured mouth against my mouth, O skin like foam; stretch your lime-white rounded arm about me, in spite of all our discord.
Slender graceful girl, be no longer inconstant to me; admit me, soft slender one, to your bed, let us stretch our bodies side by side.
As I have given up, O smooth side, every woman in Ireland for your sake, do you give up every man for me, if it is possible to do so.
Set your strawberry-coloured mouth against my mouth, O skin like foam; stretch your lime-white rounded arm about me, in spite of all our discord.
Slender graceful girl, be no longer inconstant to me; admit me, soft slender one, to your bed, let us stretch our bodies side by side.
As I have given up, O smooth side, every woman in Ireland for your sake, do you give up every man for me, if it is possible to do so.
Deirdre
Do not let any woman read this verse;
It is for men, and after them their sons
And their son's sons.
The time comes when our hearts sink utterly;
When we remember Deirdre and her tale,
And that her lips are dust.
Once she did tread the earth: men took her hand;
They looked into her eyes and said their say,
And she replied to them.
More than a thousand years it is since she
Was beautiful: she trod the waving grass;
She saw the clouds.
A thousand years! The grass is still the same,
It is for men, and after them their sons
And their son's sons.
The time comes when our hearts sink utterly;
When we remember Deirdre and her tale,
And that her lips are dust.
Once she did tread the earth: men took her hand;
They looked into her eyes and said their say,
And she replied to them.
More than a thousand years it is since she
Was beautiful: she trod the waving grass;
She saw the clouds.
A thousand years! The grass is still the same,
Face Lost in the Wilderness
Do not fill postcards with memories.
Between my heart and the luxury of passion
stretches a desert where ropes of fire
blaze and smolder, where snakes
coil and recoil, swallowing blossoms
with poison and flame.
No! Don't ask me to remember. Love's memory
is dark, the dream clouded;
love is a lost phantom
in a wilderness night.
Friend, the night has slain the moon.
In the mirror of my heart you can find no shelter,
only my country's disfigured face,
her face, lovely and mutilated,
her precious face ...
Between my heart and the luxury of passion
stretches a desert where ropes of fire
blaze and smolder, where snakes
coil and recoil, swallowing blossoms
with poison and flame.
No! Don't ask me to remember. Love's memory
is dark, the dream clouded;
love is a lost phantom
in a wilderness night.
Friend, the night has slain the moon.
In the mirror of my heart you can find no shelter,
only my country's disfigured face,
her face, lovely and mutilated,
her precious face ...