 | Sweet Lavender |  |
Sweet Lavender
“------ Pale and faded,
Dry and scentless and gray,
Yet full of the tender fragrance
Of many a long dead day!”
Dry and scentless and gray,
Yet full of the tender fragrance
Of many a long dead day!”
Sweet lavender, pale and faded,
Dry and scentless and gray,
Yet full of the tender fragrance
Of many a long dead day!
Dry and scentless and gray,
Yet full of the tender fragrance
Of many a long dead day!
It grew in the dear old garden,
Between the pansy and pink,
The sweetest flower in the border,
I always used to think.
Between the pansy and pink,
The sweetest flower in the border,
I always used to think.
When the jasmine stars were shining
In the burning noon of July,
We'd gathered the lavender stalks,
And dried them and laid them by—
In the burning noon of July,
We'd gathered the lavender stalks,
And dried them and laid them by—
The lavender-stalks and the rose-leaves
That fell on the lawn in showers,
And the folks all said there were never
Such sweet red roses as ours.
That fell on the lawn in showers,
And the folks all said there were never
Such sweet red roses as ours.
It sweetened the old oak presses
Where the home-spun linen lay,
It scented the muslin gown
That I wore on my wedding-day;
Where the home-spun linen lay,
It scented the muslin gown
That I wore on my wedding-day;
'Twas beside the lavender bush
That our first love word was said;
So I wore a sprig in my bosom,
The day that we two were wed.
That our first love word was said;
So I wore a sprig in my bosom,
The day that we two were wed.
It's happy the bride that the sun
Shines on, so the old folks say,
Shines on, so the old folks say,
And oh but the sun shone bravely
To honour our wedding day.
The bells rang out over-head
As we passed through the old arched door,
And 'twas lavender mixed with roses
That the children strewed on the floor.
To honour our wedding day.
The bells rang out over-head
As we passed through the old arched door,
And 'twas lavender mixed with roses
That the children strewed on the floor.
When I had a house of my own,
It was always my pride and care.
It was always my pride and care.
To have the fragrance of rose-leaves
And lavender everywhere.
We'd planted a bush of our own
In the joy of our wedding-morn,
And Dick brought me a bunch from the garden
The day our baby was born.
And lavender everywhere.
We'd planted a bush of our own
In the joy of our wedding-morn,
And Dick brought me a bunch from the garden
The day our baby was born.
The world was sweeter than Summer
After my baby came,
Yet there seemed no name in the world
That was sweet enough for her name,
Till I smelt the lavender scent
And I knew what her name must be,
And, I whispered: “‘Lavender,’ darling,
That is the name for thee!”
After my baby came,
Yet there seemed no name in the world
That was sweet enough for her name,
Till I smelt the lavender scent
And I knew what her name must be,
And, I whispered: “‘Lavender,’ darling,
That is the name for thee!”
Now youth is gathered and faded,
But it scents the rest of my life—
But it scents the rest of my life—
Though my Lavender's grown to a woman,
And the woman is turned to a wife.
For I smell the lavender scent
More sweetly than ever before,
Now I dress my Lavender's baby
In the gowns my Lavender wore.
And the woman is turned to a wife.
For I smell the lavender scent
More sweetly than ever before,
Now I dress my Lavender's baby
In the gowns my Lavender wore.
E. Nesbit.
| Sweet Lavender | |