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1876–1944

THE LOTUS EATERS

Helen Hay Whitney

We have no rain, we have no sun, We only watch the moments run Like little adders thro’ the leaves, Lost ere their flitting has begun.

The cool light airs that fan our brow, What aromatic sweets they know! The tall tired trees that make our sky Are lapped in spices as they bow.

The bright-eyed flowers that form our bed, Like eager jewels, blue and red, Seem brimmed with gay immortal life, Yet we dream on when they are dead.

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THE LOTUS EATERS · Helen Hay Whitney · Poetry Cove