THE DANDELION. 
145 
ILLUSTRATION OF THE SENTIMENT. 
Lady, throw back thy raven hair; 
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Show thy white brow in the moonlight bare; 
I will look on the stars, and look on thee, 
And read the page of thy destiny. 
Little thanks shall I have for my tale, 
Even in youth thy cheek will be pale ; 
By thy side is a red rose tree, 
One lone rose droops, wither’d, so thou wilt be. 
Mark yon star, it shone at thy birth ; 
Look again, it has fallen to earth; 
Its glory has pass’d like a dream away, 
So, or yet sooner, wilt thou decay. 
I may not read in thy hazel eyes. 
For the long dark lash that over them lies; 
So in my heart I can but see, 
A shadow of night in thy destiny. 
I can give thee but dark revealings 
Of passionate hopes, and wasted feelings, 
Of love that pass’d as the lava wave, 
Of a broken heart, and an early grave. 
o 
