CARNIVAL
Reading edition
I gave a rose to a dancing girl, She did not know It was tribute I paid to a joy, Dead long ago. I sang my song in the market-place, They did not hear I was challenging love with a laugh, And grief and fear. Life danced on my heart with careless feet, And never knew The beauty it gave in gift to me, Was tied with rue. I walked the ways of a heedless world, And found it mad, So, now I drift in the wake of dreams, And I am glad.