THE STATUE AND THE BUST.
165
And still, as love's brief morning wore,
With a gentle start, half smile, half sigh,
They found love not as it seemed before.
With a gentle start, half smile, half sigh,
They found love not as it seemed before.
They thought it would work infallibly,
But not in despite of heaven and earth—
The rose would blow when the storm passed by.
But not in despite of heaven and earth—
The rose would blow when the storm passed by.
Meantime they could profit in winter's dearth
By winter's fruits that supplant the rose:
The world and its ways have a certain worth!
By winter's fruits that supplant the rose:
The world and its ways have a certain worth!
And to press a point while these oppose
Were a simple policy—best wait,
And lose no friends and gain no foes.
Were a simple policy—best wait,
And lose no friends and gain no foes.
Meanwhile, worse fates than a lover's fate,
Who daily may ride and lean and look
Where his lady watches behind the grate!
Who daily may ride and lean and look
Where his lady watches behind the grate!
