Sea Rose

Rose, harsh rose,

marred and with stint of petals,

meagre flower, thin,

sparse of leaf,

5

more precious

than a wet rose

single on a stem—

you are caught in the drift.

Stunted, with small leaf,

10

you are flung on the sand,

you are lifted

in the crisp sand

that drives in the wind.

Can the spice-rose

15

drip such acrid fragrance

hardened in a leaf?

—
H. D.

Sea Garden, 1916