ARLETTE. A MAN'S REMEMBRANCE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2242, 20 November 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

ARLETTE. A MAN'S REMEMBRANCE.

The day is spent, and fields, new-shorn, Are bright with fading sheen ; Like blos>soms left behind the corn, The maidens come and glean ; Blue eyes and floating locks of gold, Have caught y<»n in their net ; Yon smile, and call mo strange and cold — You never knew Arlette. I met her when this life of mine Had turned from sweet to sour : There was no sparkle in the wine, No bloom upon the flower. I roamed away to bear alone The stings of vain regret ; The grain was gone, the reapers flown, When first I found Arlette. The glamour of the " sunny south " About her beauty lies ; A mellow cheek, a scarlet mouth ; And dark, beseeching eyes ; A daughter of the soil, as sweet A« summer buds dew-wet ; No taint of our town-bred deceit Has ever touched Arlette With half her charm some girls might win A fashionable fame ; How came she with that southern skin And soft old Norman name ? We talked, I questioned, she replied, Till I forgot my fret ; For bitter thoughts and angry prido All fled before Arlette. How ends the tale ? To your surprise There is no end to tell ! I left no tears in those dark eyes, Although I loved them well; Her picture hangs within by brain Fresh and unsullied yet ; No empty vows of mine shall pain The heart of true Arlette. But, when my harvest field appears As bare as it can be, She comes, and finds some golden ears Of life's good grain for n,e ; Mv old belief in truth and trust She brings back, sometimes yet ; You smile again ; — ah, well, you must ; You never knew Arlette. — Sarah Doudney, in Good Words for September.