WHEN YOU WENT BY

I stood in the rain and watched you pass,

I stood in the blinding rain....

And I thought of a fragrant summer night,

When the room was glowing with candlelight,

And a shower beat on the window glass

With a wonderful, low refrain.

I thought of your arms that held me tight,

And your eyes that were near and warmly bright;

I thought of — all, as I watched you pass,

And my soul was wrung with pain.

“Tramp, tramp, tramp!” rang your column's tread.

“Tramp, tramp, tramp!” through the street.

( Ah, dear, it was summer once, and there

Were flower scents on the misty air —

Honeysuckle and mignonette, poignantly, sadly sweet! )

“Tramp, tramp, tramp!” rang your column's tread,

And my eyes were dim as I bowed my head;

And my heart seemed broken and old and dead,

Under your marching feet.

I stood in the rain and watched you pass —

There in the autumn rain....

And I thought, my dear, of the night when you

Had kissed me first. ( Ah, your eyes were blue,

And very tender, and Heaven-true,

There in the candlelight! )

I thought of a misty summer night,

When a shower fell on the vivid grass

( There, through the rain, I watched you pass! )

I thought of a mystic summer night

That never may come again.