Chapter 4

O opulent life of ours, though dispossessed Of treasure after treasure! Youth most fair Went first, but left its priceless coil of hair-- Moaned over sleepless nights, kissed and caressed Through drip and blur of tears the tenderest. And next went Love--the ripe rose glowing there Her very sister!... It is here; but where Is she, of all the world the first and best? And yet how sweet the sweet earth after rain-- How sweet the sunlight on the garden wall Across the roses--and how sweetly flows The limpid yodel of the brook again! And yet--and yet how sweeter after all, The smouldering sweetness of a dead red rose!

End of Project Gutenberg's Riley Love-Lyrics, by James Whitcomb Riley