Poems by Edith Nesbit

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The Offering

What will you give me for this heart of mine,

No heart of gold, and yet my dearest treasure?

It has its graces, it can ache and pine,

And beat true time to your sweet voice's measure;

It bears your name, it lives but for your pleasure:

What will you give me for this heart I bring,

That holds my life, my joy, my everything?

How can I ask a price, when all my prayer

Edith Nesbit

To A Tulip-Bulb

SLEEP first,

And let the storm and winter do their worst;

Let all the garden lie

Bare to the angry sky,

The shed leaves shiver and die

Above your bed;

Let the white coverlet

Of sunlit snow be set

Edith Nesbit

From The Portuguese

When I lived in the village of youth

There were lilies in all the orchards,

Flowers in the orange-gardens

For brides to wear in their hair.

It was always sunshine and summer,

Roses at every lattice,

Dreams in the eyes of maidens,

Edith Nesbit

The Charm

LIKE crimson lamps the tulips swing,

The lily flowers their incense bring,

The daisies votive garlands fling

Before the altar of the Spring.

And you and I in this green May,

When thrushes sing, and white lambs play,

Go glad at heart--so glad and gay,

No word seems good enough to say.

Edith Nesbit

In The Enchanted Tower

THE waves in thunderous menace break

Upon the rocks below my tower,

And none will dare the Sea-king's power

And venture shipwreck for my sake.

Yet once,--my lamp a path of light

Across the darkling sea had cast--

I saw a sail; at last, at last,

It came towards me through the night.

Edith Nesbit

Not Now, When Skies Are Gold And Blue

And you have me and I have you,

When there are roses all the way,

And April days and nights of May,

And life is joy the whole day long--

Not now can passion flower in song.

But in the dark days by-and-by,

When, deep divided, you and I,

Shivering among the rose-thorns bare,

Edith Nesbit

Questions

What do the roses do, mother,

Now that the summer's done?

They lie in the bed that is hung with red

And dream about the sun.

What do the lilies do, mother,

Now that there's no more June?

Each one lies down in her white nightgown

And dreams about the moon.

Edith Nesbit

Indiscretion

RED tulip-buds last night caressed

The sacred ivory of her breast.

She met me, eager to divine

What gold-heart bud of hope was mine.

Nor eyes nor lips were strong to part

The close-curled petals round my heart;

The joy I knew no monarch knows,

Yet not a petal would unclose.

Edith Nesbit

In The Rose Garden

RED roses bright, pink roses and white

That bud and blossom and fall;

The very sight of my heart's delight

Is more than worth them all!

Is worth far more than the whole sweet store

That ever a garden grew--

She plucked the best to die at her breast,

But it laughed and it bloomed anew!

Edith Nesbit

The Last Betrayal

AND I shall lie alone at last,

Clear of the stream that ran so fast,

And feel the flower roots in my hair,

And in my hands the roots of trees;

Myself wrapt in the ungrudging peace

That leaves no pain uncovered anywhere.

What--this hope left? this way not barred?

This last best treasure without guard?

Edith Nesbit

Absolution II

UNBIND thine eyes, with thine own soul confer,

Look on the sins that made thy life unclean,

Behold how poor thy vaunted virtues were,

How weak thy faith, thy deeds how small and mean,

How far from thy high dreams thy life hath been,

How poor thy use of all thou hast received,

How little of all God's glory thou hast seen,

How misconstrued that which thou hast perceived.

Edith Nesbit

A Song For Peace And Honour

TO THE QUEEN

LADY and Queen, for whom our laurels twine,

Upon whose head the glories of our land

In one immortal diadem are met,

Embodied England, in whose woman-hand

The sceptre of Imperial sway is set,

Receive this song of mine!

For you are England, and her bays grow green

Edith Nesbit