4532036Poems — Yet, Once—Antoinette Quinby Scudder

YET, ONCE—
Never again, my dear, shall we together
Walk the long lanes in glory of the year,
Through pearl and purple of the April twilight
As once we did, my dear.

And see the soft clouds blown like lilac petals—
All things had such strange grace when you were near—
Across a sky of palest honey color,
As once we saw, my dear.

Never again, I'll know that you are calling
In the low voice that only I might hear
Through darkness and the steady throb of rainfall,
As once I knew, my dear.

It cannot be again—your strong arms round me,
The full heart-surge and the exquisite fear—
Never—till all the stars like dust are scattered—
Yet—once it was, my dear.