FRAGMENT II.
LA ROSE FLETRIE.
“Que l'amour est doux si l'on aimer toujours!
Mais helas! il n'y a point d'eternel amour.”
J. J. Rousseau.
I
Oh! return me the rose which I gather'd for thee
When thy love like the rose was in bloom,
For neglected it withers, though given by me,
And shares with thy love the same doom.
II
Yet so lately renew'd was thy passion's frail vow
On that rose, which so lately was given,
That the rose's twin-buds which were wreath'd for my brow
Are still gem'd with the fresh dews of heaven.
III
For the twin-buds thy fondness so tastefully wove
Were ne'er kiss'd by the sun's faintest ray,
While the rose, which receiv'd the warm vow of thy love,
Lies expos'd to the varying day.
IV
So faded, so tintless, it lives but to languish,
All its blushes, its freshness, decay'd,
And droops (hapless flow'r!) as tho' love's tender anguish
On its blushes and freshness had prey'd.
V
Then return me the rose which I gather'd for thee,
When thy love like the rose was in bloom,
Since neglected it withers, though given by me,
And shares with thy love the same doom.
VI
Thou return'st me the rose; yet with sighs 'tis return'd,
And the drops which its pale bosom wears,
Were they shed from thine eye? is my rose then so mourn'd,
Or but dew'd with the eve's falling tears?
VII
Yet speak not! that look is enough! Keep the flow'r,
Since in death 'tis still precious to thee;
Since the odour that's deathless recalls the sweet hour
When the rose was presented by me.
VIII
And wilt thou,
when breathing the scent of its sighs,
E'er say, with a love-ling'ring thrill,
“Thus passion deep-felt in the bosom ne'er dies,
And if faded, is odorous still?”
IX
Oh thou wilt! and the rose which thus wither'd with thee,
From thy cares may recover its bloom,
And that love which thine eye again pledges to me
Will still share with the rose the same doom.