 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
34
SONNET.—OH! PRECIOUS IS THE FLOWER!
Oh! precious is the flower that Passion bringsTo his first shrine of beauty, when the heart
Runs over with devotion, and no art
Checks the free gush of the wild lay he sings:
But the rapt eye and the impetuous thought
Declare the pure affection; and a speech,
Such as the ever-tuned affections teach,
Delivers love's best confidence unbought;
And all is glory in the o'er-arching sky,
And all is beauty in the uplifting earth,
And, from the wood, and o'er the wave, a mirth,
Such as lures hope with immortality,
Declares that all the loved ones are at hand,
With still the turtle's voice the loudest in the land!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |