You tell me you love me; you bid me believe
That never such lover could mean to deceive.
You tell me the tale which a million times
Has been told, and talked, and sung in rhymes;
You rave o’er my “eyes” and my “beautiful hair,”
And swear to be true, as they always swear;
But the wrinkles will grow, and the roses go,
And lovers are rovers oft, you know,
When the roses go.
I have heard of a woman, sweet and fair,
With dewy lips and shining hair,
And you pledged to her, on your bended knee,
The self-same vow you make to me.
She was fairer than I, I know;
She was pure and true, and she loved you so;
But the wrinkles will grow and the roses go–
How she learned that trouble comes, _you know_,
When the roses go.
You’re a man in each outward sense, I trow,
With the stamp of a god on your peerless brow.
You hold my hand in your thrilling clasp,
And my heart grows weak in your subtle grasp,
Till I blush in the light of your tender eyes,
And dream of a far-of paradise–
Almost forgetting that ever from there
Another was turned in her bleak despair.
But the wrinkles will grow, and the roses go–
I will answer you, love, my love, you know,
When the roses go.
(Madge Morris Wagner)
More Poetry from Madge Morris Wagner:
Madge Morris Wagner Poems based on Topics: Love, Fairness, Woman, God, Light, Hair, Lies & Deceit, Man, Sense & Perception- Mystery Of Carmel (Madge Morris Wagner Poems)
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- My Ships Have Come From Sea (Madge Morris Wagner Poems)
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