June Roses

No lower, no lower, along the lane !
For the place it was here I know,
Where over the far meadow's bloomy wane
Yon rose waves to and fro,
I remember the curve of the flexile spray
And the way these roses grow.

How they float on the maze of the verdure lush,
And ruffle to feel the breeze,
Where they lie full-blown with a delicate flush I
Do you love them most, or these
Opening coy with a crimson blush,
Hiding golden hearts for the bees ?

Do you mind how you bade me cull you a rose?
But the spray swam over my head
With a stress of air, " One would say that it knows,
As you breathed the word it fled ;
With the sister blooms it would fain repose
Till the gentle leaves be shed ! "

"Little skilled in reading the heart of a flower,"
Your answering tones I heard ;
" See close to your hand the pale rose cower
Lest you take her at her word ! "
But there fell the first drop of a thunder shower.
And the rose it was left and blurred.

Is it easier now to remember the spot
Where we paused in the sweet green lane
Than to find the warm feeling we soon forgot,
Left there like the flower to wane ?
She said " There are hearts that blossom not
Like the roses of June again !"