[43]
MEN often strive my first to gain
By strength or skill, by speed or worth;
It causes deepest woe and pain,
It causes also joy and mirth.
I watched a tennis-player serve,
And through the air the ball whizzed fast,
But took an unexpected curve;
The umpire said it was my last.
With thoughtful eyes and puzzled brow,
It is my whole you ’re reading now.
[44]
BENEATH the Roman Eagle’s glory,
Great Cæsar, famed in song and story,
Triumphant banners floating o’er him,
Carried my Roman first before him.
In springtime days of sunny weather,
When lads and lassies dance together,
Around the May-pole gaily flying,
They are my last, there ’s no denying.
A gallant knight and lovely lady
Were sauntering down a pathway shady;
He offered her, with words beguiling,
My whole, which she accepted, smiling.