A RUINED rose, -- I hold it so, Up by its broken stem, and lo! In fibrous heart and shredded sheath The record of my lady's teeth Who frayed it thus an hour ago. I asked too much, it may be, though She needed not such meed bestow, Nor to my wounded heart bequeath A ruined rose. But time will even all, I know, And when a few more years shall show Fair maidens gleaned from hall and heath To round my beauty's changeful wreath, My lady proud will lie below, -- A ruined rose. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE'S MIRACLE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON HER EYES TWIN POOLS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON TO OUR MOCKING-BIRD; DIED OF A CAT, MAY, 1878 by SIDNEY LANIER FRANCIS II, KING OF NAPLES; SONNET by AMY LOWELL LA RONDE DU DIABLE by AMY LOWELL SURFACES AND MASKS; 2 by CLARENCE MAJOR DOMESDAY BOOK: JOHN SCOFIELD by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ALONZO CHURCHILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |