I. THE years we spent together -- what are they But blown dust on the wastes of yesterday? Yet should I find my joy I must go back, Seeking its fragments where the gray years stay. Who knows what ghost may come the selfsame track, Wistful, for that his live hand cast away? II The dream we dreamed together -- it is gone Like some frail rose a great wind falls upon, Destroying utterly. Yet I, in truth, Would give all golden gardens 'neath the sun For one torn petal from that rose of youth, And nowhere may I find one -- nay, not one. III Perchance that happiness we have not known Love now bestows on other lovers, grown More worthy of a gift left unpossessed. Those vagabonds met there beneath the blown May Moon to-night, may wear within each breast The joy divine that might have been our own. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 6. SUNSET IN THE TROPICS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SUMMER SHIRT SALE by CARL SANDBURG SONNET (ON RECEIVING A LETTER INFORMING ME OF THE BIRTH OF A SON) by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE BARCLAY OF URY by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE AFFLICTION OF MARGARET by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |