Inscription

DAY after day,
As I have wandered thro' the fields of life—
Gay, happy fields, bright with the sun and sky—
                    Flower after flower
                    Has bloomed beside my path;
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And I have gathered them, a long-loved handful,
                    Which I offer now
To the unpitying, cruel-laughing world.
                    And some are gay,
Sparkling with joy and the bright sun of hope;
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                    And some are sad,
Dipped in the crimson of the setting sun,
Or blasted by the cold of winter winds;
                    Buy all the roots
Are down, far down, within the spirit's depths,
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Amid the voiceless shadows of the soul,
                    And each has sprung
From the warm life-blood throbbing in my heart