Beads from a Rosary :: :: University of Virginia Library

In the moonlight they were gathered,
Dew-besprinkled flowers;
In the clear, unclouded moonlight,
Falling, in pale showers,
On the silvery gleaming foliage
Of the garden bowers.

Angels may have looked upon them,
From their homes on high;—
Fairies may be hid within them,
Viewless to the eye;—
Cast them not away, sweet Lady,
When they droop and die.

I have read, in olden story,
That strange virtue oft is found
In the blossoms, cull'd by moonlight,
From the dewy ground.
Let them touch thy cheek, I pray thee—
Let them lie upon thy breast;—
They may cool that flush'd cheek's fever,
They may give that bosom rest;—
All such virtues breathe from out them,
When in thine embrace they're prest.