A JUNE MEMORY

’Twas June, the roses were reigning In regalest splendour and pride. Sweet peas, like butterflies tethered, Were flutt’ring on every side. Like smouldering fires the wallflowers Burned dull in the sun’s strong glow, And the yellow bees, like meteors, Went flashing to and fro. No lordly pleasaunce was it, But an old-world garden wild, Where purple-hooded pansies And long-lashed daisies smiled. And there in June we parted; And the sad years hurtle by Like birds whose wings are broken When they just have learned to fly. And I think,—Do you remember In the life that’s yours to-day, That garden and its glamour, And the time that would not stay! Oh, amid the faces around you, Does one face never arise And for a moment hold you With the old spell of its eyes? Ah no! You men forget us, And we!—we must be dumb. And life’s June goes for ever And the snows of winter come.