The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay With Illustrations by John Gilbert |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
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| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
THE FLOWER AND CHAIN. |
 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
THE FLOWER AND CHAIN.
I
The fading rose may drink the dew,And draw fresh life from summer skies;
But years nor tears can e'er renew
The love deceived that droops and dies.
The chain whose links dissolve and part,
May be united as before;
But broken love's defy our art,
And, once dissever'd, meet no more.
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II
Though frail the rose, it fears no storm,—Its sweets exhale when tempests rave;
But falsehood blights its fairy form,
And strews its blossoms on the grave;
The mystic chain, like Fate and Death,
Can bear all grief that men have borne,
But breaks and crumbles at a breath,
When utter'd by the lips of scorn.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |