Sara Teasdale, comp. (1884–1933).
The Answering Voice: One Hundred Love Lyrics by Women. 1917.
Grace Fallow Norton
O
The weight of laughter unshed,
Oh, heavy caresses, unblown tendernesses,
Oh, love-words unsung and unsaid.
The cramp of silence close-furled,
To lips that would utter, to hands that would scatter
Love’s seed on the paths of the world.
My breast doth this burden bear;
Deep in my bosom the unblown blossom—
My world-love that withers there.