La Vie C'est La Vie

On summer afternoons I sit
Quiescent by you in the park
And idly watch the sunbeams gild
And tint the ash tree’s bark
Or else I watch the squirrels frisk
And chaffer in the grassy lane
And all the while I mark your voice
Breaking with love and pain
I know a woman who would give
Her chance of heaven to take my place
To see the love-light in your eyes
The love-glow on your face
And there’s a man whose lightest word
Can set my chilly blood afire
Fulfillment of his least behest
Defines my life’s desire
But he will none of me. Nor I
Of you. Nor you of her. 'Tis said
The world is full of jests like these
I wish that I were dead