First Lines of Henry Timrod
And if I ask thee for a kiss,Another year! -- a short one, if it flowAwake upon a couch of pain,Could I reveal the secret joyDo you recall -- I know you do --Draw close the lattice and the door!Hark to the shouting Wind!I saw her, Harry, first, in March; --I should be dumb before thee, feathered sage!I think that next to your sweet eyes,If you have seen a richer glow,Is she not lovely! Oh! when, long ago,It is a place whither I've often goneIt is time (it was time long ago) I should severI've been haunted all night, I've been haunted all dayLet the boy have his will! I tell thee, brother,Lily! lady of the garden!My gentle friend! I hold no creed so falseNot to win thy favor, maiden, not to steal away thy heart,O Florabel! I know you well!O lady! if, until this hour,Oh! dost thou flatter falsely, Hope, sweet Hope?Shall I desist, twice baffled? Once by land,She came with April blooms and showers;So they are dead! Love! when they passedSomewhere on this earthly planetThe stream is flowing from the west:To-day's most trivial act may hold the seedToo long, O Spirit of Storm,We scarce, O God! could lisp thy name,When I bade thee adieu, thou rememb'rest the time,Who first said
false as dreams? Not one who sawWhose was the hand that painted thee, O Death!