AMONG THE LILIES.

She stood among the lilies

In sunset's brightest ray,

Among the tall June lilies,

As stately fair as they;

And I, a boyish lover then,

Looked once, and, lingering, looked again,

And life began that day.

She sat among the lilies,

My sweet, all lily-pale;

The summer lilies listened,

I whispered low my tale.

O golden anthers, breathing balm,

O hush of peace, O twilight calm,

Did you or I prevail?

She lies among the lily-snows,

Beneath the wintry sky;

All round her and about her

The buried lilies lie.

They will awake at touch of Spring,

And she, my fair and flower-like thing,

In spring-time — by and by.