 | The forest minstrel |  |
191
THE VIOLET.
My garden boasts of many a flower,
And garlands crown the field and grove;
But here, beneath the hawthorn bower,
I've found the flower I dearly love.
And garlands crown the field and grove;
But here, beneath the hawthorn bower,
I've found the flower I dearly love.
Ah! meekly droops its fragrant head
Upon the green earth's genial breast;
And yet it seems that heaven has shed
Its purest azure on its crest.
Upon the green earth's genial breast;
And yet it seems that heaven has shed
Its purest azure on its crest.
And deep within its dewy eye
A radiant sunbeam always lies,
And from its bosom to the sky
Its balmy breathings ever rise.
A radiant sunbeam always lies,
And from its bosom to the sky
Its balmy breathings ever rise.
And sometimes, when, at dreamy even,
I've sought my favourite flower in vain,
I fancied that the radiant heaven
Had claimed its starry blue again.
I've sought my favourite flower in vain,
I fancied that the radiant heaven
Had claimed its starry blue again.
I oft have deemed this gentle flower
In Flora's crown the sweetest gem,
Like Piety with fragrant power,
Adorning beauty's diadem.
In Flora's crown the sweetest gem,
Like Piety with fragrant power,
Adorning beauty's diadem.
192
The richest beauty yields to death,
And Genius' light will fade away,
Fame may be blighted by a breath,
And love and friendship own decay;—
And Genius' light will fade away,
Fame may be blighted by a breath,
And love and friendship own decay;—
But Piety, divinely pure,
However humble be its lot,
Will shed, as long as life endure,
A joy, a fragrance round the spot;
However humble be its lot,
Will shed, as long as life endure,
A joy, a fragrance round the spot;
And calmly pass away to live
Where purity and beauty reign,—
As dying violets seem to give
Their azure back to heaven again.
Where purity and beauty reign,—
As dying violets seem to give
Their azure back to heaven again.
| The forest minstrel | |