Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Lizette WoodworthReese

1254 In Time of Grief

DARK, thinned, beside the wall of stone,

The box dripped in the air;

Its odor through my house was blown

Into the chamber there.

Remote and yet distinct the scent,

The sole thing of the kind,

As though one spoke a word half meant

That left a sting behind.

I knew not Grief would go from me,

And naught of it be plain,

Except how keen the box can be

After a fall of rain.