Once I had the rarest bloom
Of love, a perfect rose
Cruel Winter stole it from me too soon
Buried it beneath her snows

Each Spring my trembling rose awoke
Cradled in the arms of rain
And under Summer's gilded skies
My rose would dare to grow again

And when the Autumn's frost would stalk
The Summer's growth on silent feet,
My rose shivered in memory
But would not admit defeat

Winter's chill is unrelenting
My rarest flower knew
And so turned black, inevitably
In darkest cold still grew

But the snow is gone quite suddenly,
My rose, no longer black
You must be the Summer rain
Will you hold Winter back?