PHYLLIS, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day,
Few are my years, but my griefs are not few,
Ever to youth should each day be a May-day,
Warm wind and rose-breath and diamonded dew-
Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
Oh for the sunlight that shines on a May-day!
Only the cloud hangeth over my life.
Love that should bring me youth’s happiest heyday
Brings me but seasons of sorrow and strife:
Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
Sunshine or shadow, or gold day or gray day,
Life must be lived as our destinies rule;
Leisure or labor or work day or play day-
Feasts for the famous and fun for the fool;
Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
(Paul Laurence Dunbar)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Life Poems, Sadness Poems, Youth Poems, Grief Poems, Fool Poems, Leisure PoemsBased on Keywords: may-day, heyday, hangeth, diamonded, rose-breath