Flowers of loveliness Twelve groups of female figures, emblematic of flowers: Designed by various artists; With poetical illustrations, by L. E. L. [i.e. Landon] |
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THE MARVEL OF PERU. |
 | Flowers of loveliness |  |
THE MARVEL OF PERU.
A radiant beauty of the lovely south,
As languid as her valleys' scented gale;
The rose hath only place on that sweet mouth,
A rose it is; but the soft cheek is pale.
As languid as her valleys' scented gale;
The rose hath only place on that sweet mouth,
A rose it is; but the soft cheek is pale.
Her large dark eyes are like a summer night,
Before the moon's soft crescent shines above;
Filled with a tender, yet a shadowy light,
Whose silence is the eloquence of Love.
Before the moon's soft crescent shines above;
Filled with a tender, yet a shadowy light,
Whose silence is the eloquence of Love.
She dwelleth like a lone and fairy flower,
That hath its home in some enchanted soil;
What knoweth she of life's more troubled hour,
Our northern lot of hurry, care, and toil?
That hath its home in some enchanted soil;
What knoweth she of life's more troubled hour,
Our northern lot of hurry, care, and toil?
Half-slave, half-idol, she is kept apart;
Her palace prison is a veiled shrine;
Enough for her, the sweet world of the heart,
Ah! little hath the ladye to resign!
Her palace prison is a veiled shrine;
Enough for her, the sweet world of the heart,
Ah! little hath the ladye to resign!
Listless she dreams the sultry noon away,
The painted fan just stirs her raven hair;
The silken curtains yield a shadowy day,
That makes the pale fair beauty seem more fair.
The painted fan just stirs her raven hair;
The silken curtains yield a shadowy day,
That makes the pale fair beauty seem more fair.
Faint are the colours in that darkened room,
When the wind lifts the curtain's crimson fold;
Amid a rich obscurity of gloom
Are seen the rainbow gems, the carved gold;
When the wind lifts the curtain's crimson fold;
Amid a rich obscurity of gloom
Are seen the rainbow gems, the carved gold;
And on a table near, a little flower
Droops in a vase as white as sculptured snow;
It was the favourite in her childhood's bower,
The Marvel of Peru,—she loves it now.
Droops in a vase as white as sculptured snow;
It was the favourite in her childhood's bower,
The Marvel of Peru,—she loves it now.
The perfumed atmosphere around is filled
With many odours—summer's scented spoil;
The fragrant waters from sweet woods distilled,
Spices, and cinnamon, and precious oil.
With many odours—summer's scented spoil;
The fragrant waters from sweet woods distilled,
Spices, and cinnamon, and precious oil.
Oh! life of pleasant languor and repose!
Like some frail plant that languishes at noon;
The dark-eyed beauty need not envy those,
To whom such charmed lot were earth's best boon.
Like some frail plant that languishes at noon;
The dark-eyed beauty need not envy those,
To whom such charmed lot were earth's best boon.
What is the world we live in, but a strife
Of vanity and envy, hate and fear?
That which we so miscal our social life,
Is one great error,—sullen, vast and drear.
Of vanity and envy, hate and fear?
That which we so miscal our social life,
Is one great error,—sullen, vast and drear.
A happier lot is woman's, thus confined
To one deep love, and one sweet solitude;
Oh! what availeth to awake the mind,
Whose higher struggles are so soon subdued!
To one deep love, and one sweet solitude;
Oh! what availeth to awake the mind,
Whose higher struggles are so soon subdued!
| Flowers of loveliness | |