When I saw you last, Rose,
You were only so high;—
How fast the time goes!
Like a bud ere it blows,
You just peeped at the sky,
When I saw you last, Rose!
Now your petals unclose,
Now your May-time is nigh;—
How fast the time goes!
And a life,—how it grows!
You were scarcely so shy
When I saw you last, Rose!
In your bosom it shows
There's a guest on the sly;
How fast the time goes!
Is it Cupid? Who knows!
Yet you used not to sigh,
When I saw you last, Rose;—
How fast the time goes!
(Austin Dobson: When I Saw You Last, Rose.)
A dainty thing's the Villanelle.
Sly, musical, a jewel in rhyme,
It serves its purpose passing well.
A double-clappered silver bell
That must be made to clink in chime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;