University of Virginia Library


95

THE COWSLIP AND THE LARK.

My pretty lady cowslip! prim and shy,
Dress'd in the vernal garb of Roman bride,
I wish thee sometimes in a long road-side
My solitary dream to purify.
And thou, bold lark! thou shivering voice on high!
Invisible warbler of the blue expanse!
Why wilt thou not, my merry bird, advance,
And glad Winander with thy minstrelsy?
The fancy sweet of Persia feign'd the love
Of the voluptuous rose and nightingale.
And Kent flows on,—the merry lark above
And the meek cowslip bending in the vale;—
What if there be mysterious love between
The brave bird of the sky and floweret of the green.