Henry Kendall

Other Poems (1871-82). A Birthday Trifle

Here in this gold-green evening end,
 While air is soft and sky is clear,
What tender message shall I send
 To her I hold so dear?
What rose of song with breath like myrrh,
 And leaf of dew and fair pure beams
Shall I select and give to her—
 The lady of my dreams?

Alas! the blossom I would take,
 The song as sweet as Persian speech,
And carry for my lady's sake,
 Is not within my reach.
I have no perfect gift of words,
 Or I would hasten now to send
A ballad full of tunes of birds
 To please my lovely friend.

But this pure pleasure is my own,
 That I have power to waft away
A hope as bright as heaven's zone
 On this her natal day.
May all her life be like the light
 That softens down in spheres divine,
"As lovely as a Lapland night,"
 All grace and chastened shine!