 | Songs of the sea, with other poems |  |
97
FLORETTE.
ILLUSTRATIVE OF A PICTURE.
Spring-flower of loveliness! gentle Florette!
Who that once saw thee could ever forget?
While a spark of life lingers, this heart and this brain
Shall thy beauty recall and thy image retain.
Who that once saw thee could ever forget?
While a spark of life lingers, this heart and this brain
Shall thy beauty recall and thy image retain.
Though Time has sped far on his merciless flight
Since first thy dear features enchanted my sight,
As clearly they rise upon memory yet
As when, in the bloom of thy graces, we met.
Since first thy dear features enchanted my sight,
As clearly they rise upon memory yet
As when, in the bloom of thy graces, we met.
'Twas a bright day in autumn: on hill-side and plain,
Like a yellower sunshine, appeared the bright grain;
And there 'mid the reapers, Florette, didst thou stand,
With the spoils of the harvest half-clasped in thy hand.
Like a yellower sunshine, appeared the bright grain;
And there 'mid the reapers, Florette, didst thou stand,
With the spoils of the harvest half-clasped in thy hand.
98
Well and boldly the limner hath ventured to trace
Thy dark-folded hair and thy luminous face;
But the image engraven deep, deep in my heart,
Is matchless in nature and fairer than art.
Thy dark-folded hair and thy luminous face;
But the image engraven deep, deep in my heart,
Is matchless in nature and fairer than art.
| Songs of the sea, with other poems | |