Chronicles and Characters By Robert Lytton (Owen Meredith): In Two Volumes |
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 | Chronicles and Characters |  |
THE DIRGE.
Pluck the pale sky-colour'd periwinkle,
That haunts in dewy courts, and shuns the light:
Gather dim violets and the wild eyebright,
That green old ruin'd walls doth oversprinkle:
And cull, to keep her company
In death, rue, sage, and rosemary,
And flowery thyme from the faint bed o' the bee;
For they, when Summer's o'er, make savour sweet
To cherish Winter: strew black-spikèd clove,
And mint, and marjoram, to make my love
A misty fragrance for her winding-sheet.
But pull not up red tulips, nor the rose,
For these be flaunting flowers that live i' the world's gay shows.
That haunts in dewy courts, and shuns the light:
Gather dim violets and the wild eyebright,
That green old ruin'd walls doth oversprinkle:
And cull, to keep her company
In death, rue, sage, and rosemary,
And flowery thyme from the faint bed o' the bee;
For they, when Summer's o'er, make savour sweet
To cherish Winter: strew black-spikèd clove,
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A misty fragrance for her winding-sheet.
But pull not up red tulips, nor the rose,
For these be flaunting flowers that live i' the world's gay shows.
| Chronicles and Characters | |