University of Virginia Library


223

FLOWERS OF THOUGHT

Pale flowers of thought upon thy forehead white,
Mixed with love's lustrous blossoms, I would set:
Not only passion's rich bloom, and the light
Of lilies of soft dreams, and mignonette,
And ferns with the earliest purest dewdrops wet;
Not only these, but flowers of highest labour
Won where the swiftest-wingéd tempests fret
The rocky hills, and smite with countless sabre
The snow-fields and blue pinnacles of the ice—
Where thunder hath the lonely moon for neighbour
And not one faintest beat of valley-tabour
Throbs up on dim mist-pinions as they rise—
Wonderful gentians from thought's furthest mountains
My soul would bring, and drops from star-kissed fountains.