Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
I. Disappointment in LoveThe Spinner
Mary Ainge De Vere (Madeline Bridges)T
As she sat and spun:
“The earth and the heavens are mine,” she said,
“And the moon and sun;
Into my web the sunlight goes,
And the breath of May,
And the crimson life of the new-blown rose
That was born to-day.”
And her song was low:
“Ah, morning, you pass away too soon,
You are swift to go.
My heart o’erflows like a brimming cup
With its hopes and fears.
Love, come and drink the sweetness up
Ere it turn to tears.”
“Is it time to rest?
My hands are weary,—my work is done,
I have wrought my best;
I have spun and woven with patient eyes
And with fingers fleet.
Lo! where the toil of a lifetime lies
In a winding-sheet!”