Rose-Morals
I.—Red.
Would that my songs might beWhat roses make by day and night—Distillments of my clod of miseryInto delight.
Soul, could’st thou bare thy breastAs yon red rose, and dare the day,All clean, and large, and calm with velvet rest?Say yea—say yea!
Ah, dear my Rose, good-bye;The wind is up; so; drift away.That songs from me as leaves from thee may fly,I strive, I pray.
II.—White.
Soul, get thee to the heartOf yonder tuberose: hide thee there—There breathe the meditations of thine artSuffused with prayer.
Of spirit grave yet light,How fervent fragrances uprisePure-born from these most rich and yet most whiteVirginities!
Mulched with unsavory death,Grow, Soul! unto such white estate,That virginal-prayerful art shall be thy breath,Thy work, thy fate.
Baltimore, 1875.