The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
 | I. |
| II. |
 | III. |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
|
|
|
|
|
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
186
FLOWER-FRAGRANCE
In every flower a woman's spirit dwells,
Sweet, undeveloped, undefined as yet.
The dewy petals with her tears are wet:
She smiles from out the softly-curving bells
Or droops in fern-fronds over rustic wells;
She gives the wholesome scent to mignonette;
Her lips within the foxglove may be met
Or in the hyacinthine honeyed cells.
Sweet, undeveloped, undefined as yet.
The dewy petals with her tears are wet:
She smiles from out the softly-curving bells
Or droops in fern-fronds over rustic wells;
She gives the wholesome scent to mignonette;
Her lips within the foxglove may be met
Or in the hyacinthine honeyed cells.
And still to-day the difference is there!
This woman lurked within the luscious furze
Millions of years ago. What lips are hers,
Thrilling the lips that touch them with a rare
And occult sweetness past man's power to bear.
What passionate gifts the rose-woman confers!
How the white lily-maiden moves and stirs
Her lover to a worship like despair!
This woman lurked within the luscious furze
Millions of years ago. What lips are hers,
Thrilling the lips that touch them with a rare
And occult sweetness past man's power to bear.
What passionate gifts the rose-woman confers!
How the white lily-maiden moves and stirs
Her lover to a worship like despair!
187
The blossom-phases woman has passed through
Leave signs and tokens we may recognise.
This woman by the blueness of her eyes
Was surely in Paradise a hare-bell blue:
Another was a rose of loveliest hue,
Sweet as God's dawning fancy could devise.
Woman has loved us under other skies;
Faithful, while era after era flew.
Leave signs and tokens we may recognise.
This woman by the blueness of her eyes
Was surely in Paradise a hare-bell blue:
Another was a rose of loveliest hue,
Sweet as God's dawning fancy could devise.
Woman has loved us under other skies;
Faithful, while era after era flew.
1885.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |