Explore "After the Frost" by James Whitcomb Riley on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
After the frost! O the rose is dead, / And the weeds lie pied in the garden-bed, / And the peach tree's shade in the wan sunshine, / Faint as the veins in these hands of mine, / Streaks the gray of the orchard wall / Where the vine rasps loose, and the last leaves fall, / And the bare boughs writhe, and the winds are lost -- / After the frost -- the frost!
After the frost! O the weary head / And the hands and the heart are quieted; / And the lips we loved are locked at last, / And kiss not back, though the rain falls fast / And the lashes drip, and the soul makes moan, / And on through the dead leaves walks alone / Where the bare boughs writhe and the winds are lost -- / After the frost -- the frost!