When Blue Eyes Fade

When blue eyes fade to ashen gray,

And when the mockbird’s roundelay

Holds a sad quiver in its note,

As though a sob were in his throat,

Or in his heart, or in his soul;

When huge and sad the rivers roll

That now in sunlit ripples run,

And when the clouds obscure the sun,

And when care’s wrinkles mark your brow,

You’ll find me nearer you than now.

You’ll find me nearer you than now,

When life’s swift rush and rowdy-dow,

And fortune beckoning us fleet,

Doth sometimes take us from our feet;

When life’s swift rush and lift and swing

Make us impatient, and we fling,

Perchance, a fretful word or frown,

Or cast a tendered blossom down;

Beyond the rush and rowdy-dow,

I will be nearer you than now.

And I today am near to you;

Now, when your eyes are glad and blue;

Now, when your lilting, laughing tone

Rings loud, and you can walk alone;

Now, in the lift and rush of things,

When the glad song the mockbird sings

Falls on your ear almost unheard,

Because your soul sings like a bird,

And all the world is fair to view;

Aye, dear, today I’m near to you.

But yet I feel within my heart

There will be days when tears will start

From our blue eyes, and scalding fall,

And when the mockbird’s morning call

Will hold a sobbing note and sad,

And skies that now are blue and glad

Be overcast, and you shall long

For vanished face or silent song;

My love shall comfort you that day,

When life’s blue skies have turned to gray.

 Lilts O Love Table Of Contents