I NEVER cast a flower away,
The gift of one who cared for me,
A little flower, a faded flower,
But it was done reluctantly.

I never looked a last adieu
To things familiar, but my heart
Shrank with a feeling almost pain,
E'en from their lifelessness to part.

I never spoke the word, farewell!
But with an utterance faint and broken,
A heart-sick yearning for the time
When it should never more be spoken.