Read "Only to Lie --" by O. Henry online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Only to lie in the evening, / Watching the drifting clouds, / O'er the blue heavens sailing; / Mystical, dreamlike shrouds. / Watching the purple shadows / Filling the woodland glades, / Only to lie in the twilight / Deep in the gathering shade.
Only to lie at midnight, / Climbing the pitch-dark stairs; / Wife at the top of them waiting; / Upwards are rising our hairs. / Only to lie as she asks us -- / "Where have you been so late? " / Only to lie with judgment -- / "Cars blocked; I had to wait. "