Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Charles Swain 1803–74

The Rose Thou Gav’st

THE ROSE thou gav’st at parting—

Hast thou forgot the hour?

The moon was on the river,

The dew upon the flower:

Thy voice was full of tenderness,

But, ah! thy voice misleads;

The rose is like thy promises,

Its thorn is like thy deeds.

The winter cometh bleakly,

And dark the time must be;

But I can deem it summer

To what thou ’st prov’d to me.

The snow that meets the sunlight

Soon hastens from the scene;

But melting snow is lasting,

To what thy faith hath been.