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ings so cherished-- Hopes, ambitions, and dreams of men-- Faces that vanished, and trusts that perished, Never to sparkle and glow again. The Old Year greedily grasped his plunder, And covered it over and hurried away: Of the thousand things that he did, I wonder How many will rise at the call of May? O wise Young Year, with your hands held under Your mantle of ermine, tell me, pray! PLATONIC. I knew it the first of the Summer-- I knew it the same at the end-- That you and your love were plighted, But couldn't you be my friend? Couldn't we sit in the twilight, Couldn't we walk on the shore, With only a pleasant friendship To bind us, and nothing more? There was never a word of nonsense Spoken between us two, Though we lingered oft in the garden Till the roses were wet with dew. We touched on a thousand subjects-- The moon and the stars above; But our talk was tinctured with science, With never a hint of love. "A wholly platonic friendship," You said I had proved to you, "Could bind a man and a woman The whole long season through, With never a thought of folly, Though both are in their youth." What would you have said, my lady, If you had known the truth? Had I done what my mad heart prompted-- Gone down on my knees to you, And told you my passionate story There in the dusk and dew; My burning, burdensome story, Hidden and hushed so long, My story of hopeless loving-- Say, would you have thought it wrong? But I fought with my heart and conquered: I hid my wound from sight; You were going away in the morning And I said a calm good-night. But now, when I sit in the twilight Or when I walk by the sea, That friendship quite "platonic" Comes surging over me. And a passionate longing fills me For the roses, the dusk and the dew,-- For the beautiful Summer vanished-- For the moonlit talks--and you. WHAT WE NEEDED. What does our country need? Not armies standing With sabres gleaming ready for the fight. Not increased navies, skillful and commanding, To bound the waters with an iron might. Not haughty men with glutted purses trying To purchase souls, and keep the power of place. Not jeweled dolls with one another vieing For palms of beauty, elegance and grace. But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly, With that rare meekness, born of gentleness, Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy, The women
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