The thorny spines would prick her tenderness.

Ah, where then doth she bide?

I asked the frost who stood

Upon the fringéd grasses ’neath the oak.

“I know her not, but I

Am ever bidden to her feast.

Ask thou the sparrow of the field.

He searcheth everywhere; perchance

He knoweth where she bides.”

“Nay, I know her not,