Read "At an Old Drawer" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Before this scarf was faded, / What hours of mirth it knew; / How gaily it paraded / For smiling eyes to view. / The days were tinged with glory, / The nights too quickly sped, / And life was like a story / Where all the people wed.
Before this rosebud wilted, / How passionately sweet / The wild waltz swelled and lilted / In time for flying feet; / How loud the bassoons muttered, / The horns grew madly shrill, / And, oh, the vows lips uttered / That hearts could not fulfill.
Before this fan was broken, / Behind its lace and pearl / What whispered words were spoken, / What hearts were in a whirl; / What homesteads were selected / In Fancy's realm of Spain, / What castles were erected, / Without a room for pain.
When this odd glove was mated, / How thrilling seemed the play; / May be our hearts are sated -- / They tire so soon to-day. / Oh, thrust away those treasures, / They speak the dreary truth; / We have outgrown the pleasures / And keen delights of youth.