A Birthday Trifle
Here in this gold-green evening end,While air is soft and sky is clear,What tender message shall I sendTo her I hold so dear?What rose of song with breath like myrrh,And leaf of dew and fair pure beamsShall I select and give to her—The lady of my dreams?
Alas! the blossom I would take,The song as sweet as Persian speech,And carry for my lady’s sake,Is not within my reach.I have no perfect gift of words,Or I would hasten now to sendA ballad full of tunes of birdsTo please my lovely friend.
But this pure pleasure is my own,That I have power to waft awayA hope as bright as heaven’s zoneOn this her natal day.May all her life be like the lightThat softens down in spheres divine,“As lovely as a Lapland night,”All grace and chastened shine!