University of Virginia Library


231

XXXIX. TO “THE CONSTELLATED FLOWER, THAT NEVER SETS.”

Thou lowly flower! be thou exalted ever;
Sphered in the eternal arch of poesy!
For thou art a memorial, failing never,
Of the heart's holiest throb in dreams gone by.
Here, where the accursed tread of men-machines,
Drill'd to the art of slaughter, beats thee down—
(And fit it is not that in martial scenes
Thou shouldst lift up thy love-presiding crown)
Here, where no eye but mine adores thy star;
No foot but mine to crush thy heart refuseth;
Thou to my spirit speak'st of meads afar,
Till with a weight of love my bosom museth;
And with my Lady dear I bless the scene
Where thy white constellations star the green.