Delayed till she had ceased to know - Delayed till in it's vest of snow Her loving bosom lay - An hour behind the fleeting breath - Later by just an hour than Death - Oh lagging Yesterday! Could she have guessed that it w'd be - Could but a crier of the joy Have climbed the distant hill - Had not the bliss so slow a pace Who knows but this surrendered face Were undefeated still? Oh if there may departing be Any forgot by Victory In her imperial round - Show them this meek apparreled thing That could not stop to be a king - Doubtful if it be crowned! ___ Some things that fly there be - Birds - Hours - the Bumblebee - Of these no Elegy. Some things that stay there be - Grief - Hills - Eternity - Nor this behooveth me. There are that resting, rise. Can I expound the skies? How still the Riddle lies! ___ Within my reach! I could have touched! I might have chanced that way! Soft sauntered thro' the village - Sauntered as soft away! So unsuspected Violets Within the meadows go - Too late for striving fingers That passed, an hour ago! ___ So bashful when I spied her! So pretty - so ashamed! So hidden in her leaflets Lest anybody find - So breathless till I passed her - So helpless when I turned And bore her struggling, blushing, Her simple haunts beyond! For whom I robbed the Dingle - For whom I betrayed the Dell - Many, will doubtless ask me - But I shall never tell! ___ My friend must be a Bird - Because it flies! Mortal, my friend must be - Because it dies! Barbs has it, like a Bee! Ah, curious friend! Thou puzzlest me! ___ Went up a year this evening! I recollect it well! Amid no bells nor bravoes The bystanders will tell! Cheerful - as to the village - Tranquil - as to repose - Chastened - as to the Chapel This humble Tourist rose! Did not talk of returning! Alluded to no time When, were the gales propitious - We might look for him! Was grateful for the Roses In life's diverse boquet - Talked softly of new species To pick another day; Beguiling thus the wonder The wondrous nearer drew - Hands bustled at the moorings - The crowd respectful grew - Ascended from our vision To countenances new! A Difference - A Daisy - Is all the rest I knew! ___ Angels, in the early morning May be seen the Dews among, Stooping - plucking - smiling - flying - Do the Buds to them belong? Angels, when the sun is hottest May be seen the sands among, Stooping - plucking - sighing - flying - Parched the flowers they bear along. ___ My nosegays are for Captives - Dim - long expectant eyes - Fingers denied the plucking, Patient till Paradise - To such, if they sh'd whisper Of morning and the moor - They bear no other errand, And I, no other prayer. ___ Sexton! My Master's sleeping here. Pray lead me to his bed! I came to build the Bird's nest - And sow the early seed - That when the snow creeps slowly From off his chamber door - Daisies point the way there - And the Troubadour. ___ The rainbow never tells me That gust and storm are by - Yet is she more convincing Than Philosophy. My flowers turn from Forums - Yet eloquent declare What Cato could'nt prove me Except the birds were here! ___ One dignity delays for all - One mitred afternoon - None can avoid this purple - None evade this crown! Coach, it insures, and footmen - Chamber, and state, and throng - Bells, also, in the village As we ride grand along! What dignified attendants! What service when we pause! How loyally at parting Their hundred hats they raise! Her pomp surpassing ermine When simple You, and I, Present our meek escutscheon And claim the rank to die! ___ As by the dead we love to sit - Become so wondrous dear - As for the lost we grapple Tho' all the rest are here - In broken mathematics We estimate our prize Vast - in it's fading ratio To our penurious eyes! ___ New feet within my garden go - New fingers stir the sod - A Troubadour upon the Elm Betrays the solitude. New Children play upon the green - New Weary sleep below - And still the pensive Spring returns - And still the punctual snow! ___ I hide myself within my flower That wearing on your breast - You - unsuspecting, wear me too - And angels know the rest! ___ I never told the buried gold Upon the hill - that lies - I saw the sun - his plunder done Crouch low to guard his prize. He stood as near As stood you here - A pace had been between - Did but a snake bisect the brake My life had forfeit been. That was a wondrous booty - I hope 'twas honest gained. Those were the fairest ingots That ever kissed the spade! Whether to keep the secret - Whether to reveal - Whether as I ponder "Kidd" will sudden sail - Could a shrewd advise me We might e'en divide - Should a shrewd betray me - Atropos decide! ___ I never lost as much but twice - And that was in the sod. Twice have I stood a beggar Before the door of God! Angels - twice descending Reimbursed my store - Burglar! Banker - Father! I am poor once more! ___ I hav'nt told my garden yet - Lest that should conquer me. I hav'nt quite the strength now To break it to the Bee - I will not name it in the street For shops w'd stare at me - That one so shy - so ignorant Should have the face to die. The hillsides must not know it - Where I have rambled so - Nor tell the loving forests The day that I shall go - Nor lisp it at the table - Nor heedless by the way Hint that within the Riddle One will walk today - ___ I often passed the Village When going home from school - And wondered what they did there - And why it was so still - I did not know the year then, In which my call would come - Earlier, by the Dial, Than the rest have gone. It's stiller than the sundown. It's cooler than the dawn - The Daisies dare to come here - And birds can flutter down - So when you are tired - Or - perplexed - or cold - Trust the loving promise Underneath the mould, Cry "it's I," "take Dollie," And I will enfold! ___ The morns are meeker than they were - The nuts are getting brown - The berry's cheek is plumper - The Rose is out of town. The Maple wears a gayer scarf - The field a scarlet gown - Lest I should be old fashioned I'll put a trinket on. ___ Whether my bark went down at sea - Whether she met with gales - Whether to isles enchanted She bent her docile sails - By what mystic mooring She is held today - This is the errand of the eye Out upon the Bay. ___ Taken from men - this morning - Carried by men today - Met by the Gods with banners - Who marshalled her away - One little maid - from playmates - One little mind from school - There must be guests in Eden - All the rooms are full - Far - as the East from Even - Dim - as the border star - Courtiers quaint, in Kingdoms Our departed are. ___ Sleep is supposed to be By souls of sanity - The shutting of the eye. Sleep is the station grand Down wh' on either hand - The Hosts of Witness stand! Morn is supposed to be By people of degree - The breaking of the Day! Morning has not occurred! That shall Aurora be East of Eternity! One with the banner gay, One in the red array - That is the break of Day! ___ If I should die - And you should live - And time sh'd gurgle on - And morn sh'd beam - And noon should burn - As it has usual done - If Birds should build as early And Bees as bustling go - One might depart at option From enterprise below! Tis sweet to know that stocks will stand When we with Daisies lie - That Commerce will continue - And Trades as briskly fly - It makes the parting tranquil And keeps the soul serene - That gentlemen so sprightly Conduct the pleasing scene! ___ By Chivalries as tiny, A Blossom, or a Book, The seeds of smiles are planted - Which blossom in the dark. ___