Heartsease.
I found a faded Pansy on the page1
Of an old book, long lost, one winter day ;2
Its velvet heart was dim with dust and age ;3
The beauty of its tints had passed away.4
Why did my eyes gaze through a mist of tears5
Which dropped on that dead flower in tender rain ?6
Because unbidden from the vanished years7
Old hopes, old dreams, old joys came back again.8
Faded away my quiet fireside nook,9
And, on the wings of Memory swiftly borne,10
I stood ’mid purple pansies by a brook11
That sang and sparkled in the summer morn.12
Rough winds no longer shook the dripping trees,13
Whose leafless branches smote my lattice-pane :14
I heard instead the drowsy hum of bees15
Among the roses in a winding lane.16
June’s mellow sunshine lay on all the land ;17
I saw the starry eyes of daisies shine ;18
And from the fingers of a clasping hand19
This purple Pansy found its way to mine.20
Ah me ! To think of all the lonely tears21
My eyes have wept since that blue summer day22
When, flushed with trembling hopes and girlish fears,23
In this old book I hid my flower away.24
You know my story, little pale Heartsease !25
As long as Time rolls on, such things will be :26
Death laid his hand upon Life’s golden keys,27
And all their melody was hushed for me.28
Yet, dear dead flower, although the old, old pain29
Still dims my sight and makes my heart beat fast,30
I know that God will wake for me again31
In years to come the music of the Past.32