University of Virginia Library



TO MY FATHER.

See, Father, here are flowers! They're all thine own;
Gather'd for thee, and tied, by love and duty;
Let them be dear, if but for that alone,
Pleasant for the intent, if not the beauty.
No man should dare despise a single one,
Since given to a father by a son.
I had not ask'd thy hand to find them room
If worthless I had deem'd them: but if each
Were but a weed, and if, while roses bloom,
No daisy should dare live,—as some men preach,—
Yet, surely, if the least delight or pride
Aught here gave thee, I should be justified.
October 30, 1848.