I shivered in the morning dew When, as the sunrise rose, The cockcrow glow was almost due And night was nigh at close; I stooped and plucked a rose. A sleepy badger tumbled through Next to the pathway side The dusky shadow that he threw Chugged, docile, down the ride; I wryly smiled and sighed. I waited for my sweetheart, still, An hour or more or two The morning air was young and still As wordless whispers blew; And balmy breezes too. Then, when at last she came along And met me neath the shade And said "Have you been waiting long About this wooded glade ?" I blushed a crimson shade. I said "I've only now come here The moment just gone by" And wheezed these words for her to hear (A shameful snow-white lie) "This rose, I went to buy!".