<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">Wild Rose</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">WILD rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Why did you come so late?</p><p class="line">I had gleams of you,</p><p class="line">And dreams of you,</p><p class="line">And I could not choose but wait,</p><p class="line">Thro' desolate days,</p><p class="line">On lonely ways,</p><p class="line">In the desert-land of Fate.</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Why did you come so late!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Why did you linger so?</p><p class="line">I saw your face</p><p class="line">In a dreamland place</p><p class="line">Years and years ago,--</p><p class="line">Your ebon hair,</p><p class="line">And your forehead fair,</p><p class="line">And your deep dark eyes aglow.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose.</p><p class="line">Why did you linger so?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Altho' you never knew,</p><p class="line">In the dark alone,</p><p class="line">I have dug and sown,</p><p class="line">For the sake of the Dream of You;</p><p class="line">For your happy heart,</p><p class="line">I plied my art,</p><p class="line">And hoarded my morning dew.</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Has my dream too late come true?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Why did you hide so long?</p><p class="line">I could not <em>live;</em></p><p class="line">I have nought to give</p><p class="line">But a little sheaf of song,</p><p class="line">And a crown of thought,</p><p class="line">That my brain has wrought,</p><p class="line">And a love that is great and strong.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Why did you hide so long?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Never too late for me;</p><p class="line">Love can redeem</p><p class="line">The tardy dream</p><p class="line">With immortality.</p><p class="line">You bring me youth,</p><p class="line">And joy, and truth,</p><p class="line">You give a soul to me,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Never too late for me!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Up to your bower I climb,</p><p class="line">By the golden stair</p><p class="line">Of an olden prayer,</p><p class="line">By the tendril grip of rhyme,</p><p class="line">By the wings of love</p><p class="line">That can soar above</p><p class="line">The limits of space and time.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Up to your bower I climb.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">I bring to you as is meet,</p><p class="line">All I have done,</p><p class="line">And lost and won.</p><p class="line">Victory and defeat;</p><p class="line">You were the goal</p><p class="line">Of my fighting soul.</p><p class="line">The blood of my heart's best beat.</p><p class="line">Child rose.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">I lay my all at your feet.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Nay, child rose,</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Years are between us twain.</p><p class="line"><em>You</em> have had days</p><p class="line">Of joy and praise,</p><p class="line"><em>I</em> have had years of pain,</p><p class="line">And the bud of you,</p><p class="line">With its morning dew,</p><p class="line">I can never on earth attain.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Years are between us twain.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Into the dark I go;</p><p class="line">But the dark will shine</p><p class="line">With these eyes of thine,--</p><p class="line">Will shine and blossom and glow;</p><p class="line">The bud of thee,</p><p class="line">Immortally,</p><p class="line">Deep in my heart will grow.</p><p class="line">Wild rose,</p><p class="line">Child rose,</p><p class="line">Into the dark I go!</p></div></body></html> · Great War