Poetry of Kansas

Then and Now.

Bleak, rugged, hills, o'er which the winter snow
          In wild gusts swept;
A sweet, green vale, a calm lake, lying low,
          Where osiers dipt;
A clear, cool spring, whose trickling overflow,
          Through tall grass crept.
 
There were some hearts that love me. Till my own
          Shall cease to beat,
Whether I tread smooth ways, or jagged stone
          With bleeding feet,
I still shall hold them precious (love alone
          Can make life sweet.)
 
Long years have fled. Still stand, deep scarred and hoar.
          The wind swept heights;
Still flows the spring, where parched lips, thirsting sore.
          Quaff deep delights;
Still sleeps the lake, by moonbeams silvered o'er
          On summer nights.
 
All these remain; scarce changed the peaceful scene,
          Yet men grow old.
Locks that were dark are touched with frosty sheen;
          Have hearts grown cold?
To know some few have kept the old love green___
          'Twere joy untold.

__Ellen P. Allerton

Walls of Corn And Other Poems
Ellen P. Allerton
Page 184
(Hiawatha, Kansas: The Harrington Printing Company. 1894)

 
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