Time & Brevity
A Rose Will Fade
From The Collected Poems of Dora Sigerson Shorter (1907)
You were always a dreamer, Rose, red Rose,
As you swung on your perfumed spray,
Swinging, and all the world was true,
Swaying, what did it trouble you?
A rose will fade in a day.
Why did you smile to his face, red Rose,
As he whistled across your way?
And all the world went mad for you.
All the world it knelt to woo.
A rose will bloom in a day.
I gather your petals, Rose, red Rose,
The petals he threw away.
And all the world derided you;
Ah! the world, how well it knew
A rose will fade in a day.
Cite this poem
MLA
Shorter, Dora Sigerson. “A Rose Will Fade.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/sigerson_d/9/.
Chicago
Shorter, Dora Sigerson. “A Rose Will Fade.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/sigerson_d/9/.
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