Page:Verses.djvu/20

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MAN'S DISCONTENT.

White feet half hid in violets, small hands in a burden fair,
A burden of Spring's first blossoms she wove for her neck and hair
Into wreaths, as she paused a moment on the threshold of maidenhood.
O my child love! hesitating, there I met her as she stood.
So I stayed till I grew weary—man's discontent, I ween—
Then I thought I longed for Summer, with trees for ever green.
I tired of primrose blossoms and the budding boughs of spring,
And the chirp! chirp! of this year's birds that had not learned to sing.
I thought her soft arms too slender, and the smooth young cheek too clear,