Page:An epic of women and other poems (IA epicofwomenother00osha).pdf/219

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It was in the time of fruit;
When the peach began to pout,
  And the purple grape to shine,
And the leaves were a threadbare suit
  For the blushing blood of the vine,
And the spoilers were about
And the viper glode at the root:

—She came, and with her hand,
  With her mouth, yea, and her eyes
She hath ravaged all the land;
  Its beauty shall no more rise:
She hath drawn the wine to her lip.
For a mere wanton sip:
  Lo, where the vine-branch lies;
Lo, where the drained grapes drip.

Her feet left many a stain;
  And her lips left many a sting;
She will never come again,
  And the fruit of everything
Is a canker or a pain: