"Roses and Rue", page 2

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Oscar Wilde
1854–1900

"Roses and Rue."

Autograph manuscript signed, ca. 1884–1885. 4 p.

Gift of Lucia Moreira Salles, 2008

MA 7258.1
Transcription: 

Page 2

II
You were allways afraid of a shower
    (Just like a flower!)
I remember you started and ran
    When the rain began,

I remember I never could catch you
    For no one could match you,
You had wonderful luminous fleet
    Little wings to your feet.

Yet you someway4 would give me the prize,
    With a laugh in your eyes,
The rose5 from your breast, or the bliss
    Of a single swift kiss

On your neck with it's6 marble hue,
    And it's vein of blue, —
How these passionate memories bite
    In my heart, as I write!

4 For publication, "someway" was changed to "somehow."
5 For publication, a comma was added after "rose."
6 For publication, "it's" was changed to "its."