University of Virginia Library

[Adieu! fair flower, though frail]

Adieu! fair flower, though frail:
I gazed on thee awhile,
And thought I saw thee smile,
And woo the passing gale;
And thou didst shine the while,
In early beauty bright,
And in thy maiden light
Who would have dreamed of guile?
The cankerworm will blight
Thy colors, now so gay,
And they will pass away,
Like drops that fall by night,
Before the eye of day:
It nestles in thy core,
And thou wilt charm no more
The winds that round thee play;
But all thy sweetness o'er,
Thy leaves will droop and fall,
And darkness spread its pall
Where all was bright before.
And when thy beauty all
Has faded, they will turn
Away, and coldly spurn
Thy love, and thou wilt call
Unnoticed, and wilt mourn,
That in the flush of spring,
When hope was on the wing,
And virtue from her urn

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Her choicest dews might fling,
And drop her richest wave,
That thou didst dig thy grave,
And barb, for death, a sting.