Only a spark of an ember,
Only a leaf on the tree,
Only the days we remember,
Only the days without thee.
Only the flower that thou worest,
Only the book that we read,
Only that night in the forest,
Only a dream of the dead,
Only the troth that was broken,
Only the heart that is lonely,
Only the sigh and the token
That sob in the saying of Only!
In literature this is a certain way of failing, but I believe a person
might make a livelihood by writing verses like these--for music. Another
good way is to be very economical in your rhymes, only two to the four
lines, and regretfully vague. Thus: