The sense of the world is short— To love and be beloved. Emerson.
NEW YORK: A. D. F. RANDOLPH & CO., PUBLISHERS,
Cor. Broadway and Ninth Street. 1869.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by Henry L. Abbey, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District ofNew York.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.
TO RICHARD GRANT WHITE, WITH GRATITUDE FOR HIS FRIENDSHIP, AND WITH ADMIRATION FOR HIS ELEGANTSCHOLARSHIP.
"Violets! Violets! Violets!" This was the cry I heard As I passed through the street of a city; And quickly my heart was stirred To an incomprehensible pity, At the undertone of the cry; For it seemed like the voice of one Who was stricken, and all undone, Who was only longing to die.
"Violets! Violets! Violets!" The voice came nearer still. "Surely," I said, "it is May, And out on valley and hill, The violets blooming to-day, Send this invitation to me To come and be with them once more; [Pg 2]I know they are dear as can be, And I hate the town with its roar."
"Violets! Violets! Violets!" Children of sun and of dew, Flakes of the blue of the sky, There is somebody calling to you Who seems to be longing to die; Yet violets are so sweet They can scarcely have dealings with death. Can it