Heart Songs

<h2><SPAN name="IN_THE_CONSERVATORY" id="IN_THE_CONSERVATORY"></SPAN>In the Conservatory</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0"><span class="letra">W</span>E came out of the dusk and gloom,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Into the glowing fragrant room,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Walled in and carpeted with bloom.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">A merry group we made that day&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Our laughter rang out clear and gay,<br/></span> <span class="i0">For we were young, and it was May.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">My cousin Dora walked with me&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Late from her home across the sea,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And fair as any flower was she.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Each pansy lifted up its face,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The slim fern shook her gown of lace,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A glory spread through all the place.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">My lady, Lily’s waxen bell,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Bent down, ashamed to hear us tell<br/></span> <span class="i0">How sweet her color, and her smell.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">The palms stood up like courtiers tall,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The smilax crept along the wall,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A sunbeam stole and kissed it all.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Now Dora, we shall see,” I said,<br/></span> <span class="ig">“The Persian violet lift her head,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Blaze out in purple and in red!<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_082" id="page_082"></SPAN>{82}</span><br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">The people seek her eagerly,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A rare aristocrat is she,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Proud of her fame as proud can be.”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“So many tongues, her praises sing,”<br/></span> <span class="i0">Said Dora, “through the world they ring,<br/></span> <span class="i0">She looks a heartless haughty thing.”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Her country cousins sweet and shy,<br/></span> <span class="i0">That get their color from the sky,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Are fairer than herself,” said I.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And last of all we came to where<br/></span> <span class="i0">The lilac and the primrose fair<br/></span> <span class="i0">Their breath threw on the heavy air.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">My cousin slipped the rows between,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Where yellow blossoms made a screen<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of their own foliage thick and green.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Ah! this,” she said, “is a surprise,<br/></span> <span class="i0">An English primrose”&mdash;soft her eyes,<br/></span> <span class="ig">“Mark what a beauty in it lies!”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“O, primroses!” in careless tone,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Said Nell, “I’ve often seen them grown<br/></span> <span class="i0">Much prettier than this small pale one.”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">My cousin bent her soft white cheek<br/></span> <span class="i0">Against the blossoms, pale and meek,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And still she stood and did not speak.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_083" id="page_083"></SPAN>{83}</span><br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I think a tear or two she shed,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Ere lifted was the golden head,<br/></span> <span class="ig">“Poor little homesick flowers!” she said.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“I wonder do you droop, and dream<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of fleecy cloud, and sunny gleam,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of meadow wide, and laughing stream.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I wonder if you wait to hear<br/></span> <span class="i0">The children’s voices, shrill and clear&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Sweet! homesickness is hard to bear.”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Then, gave us all a half-shamed look,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Ah, I could read her like a book,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Her heart was in some old world nook.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“It wants to feel,” she said, “the touch<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of dew, and sunlight, and all such&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of wind that fondles overmuch.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">But by-and-by it will get bold,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And show you people all the gold<br/></span> <span class="i0">Its pretty heart does surely hold.”<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Back at my side she took her place,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And looking at her, I could trace<br/></span> <span class="i0">An added sweetness in her face.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">We came into the dusk and gloom,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Out of the glowing fragrant room,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Walled in and carpeted with bloom.<br/></span></div> </div></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_084" id="page_084"></SPAN>{84}</span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />