Cross Roads

WHEN YOU WENT BY

     I stood in the rain and watched you pass,
     I stood in the blinding rain....
     And I thought of a fragrant summer night,
     When the room was glowing with candlelight,
     And a shower beat on the window glass
     With a wonderful, low refrain.
     I thought of your arms that held me tight,
     And your eyes that were near and warmly bright;
     I thought of—all, as I watched you pass,
     And my soul was wrung with pain.

     "Tramp, tramp, tramp!" rang your column's tread.
     "Tramp, tramp, tramp!" through the street.
     (Ah, dear, it was summer once, and there
     Were flower scents on the misty air—
     Honeysuckle and mignonette, poignantly, sadly
        sweet!)
     "Tramp, tramp, tramp!" rang your column's tread,
     And my eyes were dim as I bowed my head;
     And my heart seemed broken and old and dead,
     Under your marching feet.

     I stood in the rain and watched you pass—
     There in the autumn rain....
     And I thought, my dear, of the night when you
     Had kissed me first.  (Ah, your eyes were blue,
     And very tender, and Heaven-true,
     There in the candlelight!)
     I thought of a misty summer night,
     When a shower fell on the vivid grass
     (There, through the rain, I watched you pass!)
     I thought of a mystic summer night
     That never may come again.

     "TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP!" RANG YOUR COLUMN'S TREAD,
     "TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP!" IN THE STREET;
     AND I TRIED TO SMILE—WITH A LIFTED HEAD—
     BUT MY HEART LAY, CRUSHED, AT YOUR FEET!