Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By InaCoolbrith

967 Fruitionless

AH! little flower, upspringing, azure-eyed,

The meadow-brook beside,

Dropping delicious balms

Into the tender palms

Of lover-winds, that woo with light caress,

In still contentedness,

Living and blooming thy brief summer-day:—

So, wiser far than I,

That only dream and sigh,

And, sighing, dream my listless life away.

Ah! sweetheart birds, a-building your wee house

In the broad-leavëd boughs,

Pausing with merry trill

To praise each other’s skill,

And nod your pretty heads with pretty pride;

Serenely satisfied

To trill and twitter love’s sweet roundelay:—

So, happier than I,

That, lonely, dream and sigh,

And, sighing, dream my lonely life away.

Brown-bodied bees, that scent with nostrils fine

The odorous blossom-wine,

Sipping, with heads half thrust

Into the pollen dust

Of rose and hyacinth and daffodil,

To hive, in amber cell,

A honey feasting for the winter-day:—

So, better far than I,

Self-wrapt, that dream and sigh,

And, sighing, dream my useless life away.