Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems

The wind that blows from the west
Taps at my window, sighing;
But I pull the curtains close,
I'll hear no more its crying.
...

Go not to the hills of Erin
When the night winds are about,
Put up your bar and shutter,
And so keep the danger out.
...

Young Robin from the field in the deep shadow runs,
Singing boy, pretty maid tossing the hay, he shuns,
...

Before my time my kindred were
As felons in their land,
Because they claimed the liberty
That freemen understand.
...

A scallop shell, loosed by the lifting tide,
Had left a friendly shore, the seas to brave;
Its lips of pink and snowy hollow shone
...

Mischievous rose from the rose-tree swaying,
Can I not bind thee nor hold thee?
Can I not weave thee nor fold thee
...

A little dog disturbed my trust in Heaven.
I praised most faithfully
All the great things that be,
...

For that old love I once adored
I deck my halls and spread my board
At Christmas-time.
With all the winter's flowers that grow
...

Well, love, so be it as you say,
Just the hours of a summer's day,
And no sighing for what comes after,
Whether it be tears or laughter.
...

'Twas on a gloomy afternoon
When all the world was out of tune,
And lover's lot amiss,
When Chloe, waiting by the stream,
...