Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume VI. Fancy. 1904. | | | | Poems of Sentiment: II. Life | | The Rose-Bush | | Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787–1862) |
| | From the German by William Warren Caldwell |
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A CHILD sleeps under a rose-bush fair, | |
| The buds swell out in the soft May air; | |
| Sweetly it rests, and on dream-wings flies | |
| To play with the angels in Paradise. | |
| And the years glide by. | 5 |
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| A Maiden stands by the rose-bush fair, | |
| The dewy blossoms perfume the air; | |
| She presses her hand to her throbbing breast, | |
| With love’s first wonderful rapture blest. | |
| And the years glide by. | 10 |
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| A Mother kneels by the rose-bush fair, | |
| Soft sigh the leaves in the evening air; | |
| Sorrowing thoughts of the past arise, | |
| And tears of anguish bedim her eyes. | |
| And the years glide by. | 15 |
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| Naked and lone stands the rose-bush fair, | |
| Whirled are the leaves in the autumn air, | |
| Withered and dead they fall to the ground, | |
| And silently cover a new-made mound. | |
| And the years glide by. | 20 | | |
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