William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Massachusetts Poets. 1922.

Burnt Are the Petals of Life

BURNT are the petals of life as a rose fallen and crumbled to dust.

Blackened the heart of the past is, ashes that must

Forever be sifted, more precious than sunbeams that open the budding to-morrow.

Once was a passion completed,—too perfect, the Gods have not broken to borrow—

Blackened the heart of the past is, ashes that must

Forever be sifted. O, loving to-morrow

The rose of the past is, Life—Eternity’s dust.