A spring-time roundelay
by
Anthony M. Ludovici
In Catherine Doyle: The Romance of a Thrice-Married Lady
pp. 6–7
Hutchinson
London
1919
- p. 6 -
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Above my path she bloomed one day,
A common robust wayside flower.
Her sturdy beauty bade me stay,
And heeding not my heart's dismay,
I sought her in her leafy bower.
Above my path she bloomed one day.
A common robust wayside flower.
I wished to clasp her to my side
And taste her fragrance in my hand.
I wished her petals opened wide
That I might see the gold inside
And feel the richest in the land.
I wished to clasp her to my side
And taste her fragrance in my hand.
I longed to kiss her pistil sweet;
My senses lost their wakeful art,
So that I heard not Cupid's feet
Nor felt his golden arrows beat
Against the portals of my heart.
I longed to kiss her pistil sweet;
My senses lost their wakeful art.
But woe to me as there I stood!
So high my hand could not aspire.
Tip-toe and all — it was no good;
I could not reach her altitude,
So left her with my heart afire.
But woe to me as there I stood!
So high my hand could not aspire.
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- p. 7 -
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And later on I passed the place
Where pain recalled her to my mind;
But lo, I could not see her face!
Could she have gone and left no trace?
Or had she been another's find?
And later on I passed the place
Where pain recalled her to my mind.
Then I espied upon the way
A bruised and fainting hedgerow flower, —
So like the bloom of yesterday
That when I blew the dust away
Once more I felt her magic power.
Then I espied upon the way
A bruised and fainting hedgerow flower.
A bolder robber far than I,
Maybe, had wrenched her from above;
And then had left her there to die —
But how I praised his cruelty
As I went homeward with my love!
A bolder robber far than I,
Maybe, had wrenched her from above. |
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