The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge including Poems and Versions of Poems now Published for the First Time: Edited with Textual and Bibliographical Notes by Ernest Hartley Coleridge |
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 | The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge |  |
TO AN UNFORTUNATE WOMAN
WHOM THE AUTHOR HAD KNOWN IN THE DAYS OF HER INNOCENCE
Myrtle-leaf that, ill besped,
Pinest in the gladsome ray,
Soil'd beneath the common tread
Far from thy protecting spray!
Pinest in the gladsome ray,
Soil'd beneath the common tread
Far from thy protecting spray!
173
When the Partridge o'er the sheaf
Whirr'd along the yellow vale,
Sad I saw thee, heedless leaf!
Love the dalliance of the gale.
Whirr'd along the yellow vale,
Sad I saw thee, heedless leaf!
Love the dalliance of the gale.
Lightly didst thou, foolish thing!
Heave and flutter to his sighs,
While the flatterer, on his wing,
Woo'd and whisper'd thee to rise.
Heave and flutter to his sighs,
While the flatterer, on his wing,
Woo'd and whisper'd thee to rise.
Gaily from thy mother-stalk
Wert thou danc'd and wafted high—
Soon on this unshelter'd walk
Flung to fade, to rot and die.
Wert thou danc'd and wafted high—
Soon on this unshelter'd walk
Flung to fade, to rot and die.
1797.
| The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge | |