Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
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By Kate Putnam Osgood (1841–1910)W
A flowerless tree;
Wrung by the restless blast that blows
Across the sea.
Forgotten of the fickle Spring
The scanty leaves droop, withering.
Scarce would it seem—poor, sapless thing!—
A rose to be.
A rose remain,
Though bitter-blowing winds to-day
Its growth restrain.
Somewhere, however these deny,
The color and the fragrance lie;
Somewhere the perfect flower its dry,
Dull stalks contain.
The root should grow,
Where dews would fall, and sunbeams glance,
And soft airs flow,
Fair as the flower the garden shows
The leaf might spring, the bud unclose.
From out the calyx of a rose
A rose will blow!