Life is a happy holiday. "Where's Winter?" Ah, 'twere ever May, THE ROVER THE ROVER That it be love, I dare not say, I only know when he's away, Dark as the night, so dark the day. But still he'll rove, and still I'll try Some light to see in yon grim sky. For I will prove if power there be To lead him through the night to me In that soul-star,—fair Constancy. [17] [17] AH! LITTLE LAKE AH! LITTLE LAKE Ah! little lake, though fair thou art, A sapphire flashing to the sky, Thy charm is only for the eye, Thy beauty cannot hold my heart. Green hill-sides bending to thy shore Gleam clear in the autumnal light, While far above, Monadnock's height Keeps rugged guard thy waters o'er. And yet these very beauties cloy; As in a prison I am bound, Though fair the walls that gird me round, My housemate is no longer joy. Thy loveliness breeds discontent, For far my foolish heart would be, It longs for the unquiet sea, And with desire is sorely rent. Hateful the walls that me debar From happier things that haunt me so, Even my weary thoughts are slow To reach the great, great world afar. I half believe there is no world Those cruel hill-tops there beyond. Oh—for the wizard Merlin's wand! That all these mountain curves uncurled. I might behold the shore I love, Might hear the roaring of the tide, Might see the ocean, reaching wide And boundless as the sky above. One hour beside that sea-kissed beach Quick throbbing to its love's caress, Would yield to me more happiness Than a whole life-time here could teach. A sapphire flashing to the sky, Thy charm is only for the eye, Gleam clear in the autumnal light, While far above, Monadnock's height As in a prison I am bound,
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