Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition

The Rose Tree (Author: William Butler Yeats)

p.185

1. 'O words are lightly spoken,'
   Said Pearse to Connolly,
   'Maybe a breath of politic words
   Has withered our Rose Tree;
   Or maybe but a wind that blows
   Across the bitter sea.'
2. 'It needs to be but watered,'
   James Connolly replied,
   'To make the green come out again
   And spread on every side,
   And shake the blossom from the bud
   To be the garden's pride.'
3. 'But where can we draw water,'
   Said Pearse to Connolly,
   'When all the wells are parched away?
   O plain as plain can be
   There's nothing but our own red blood
   Can make a right Rose Tree.'