Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Ye roses deep burning ye violets of blue,
Ye fair sculptured lilies of soft silvery hue,
All ye children of Sunshine, and daughters of Day,
That with beauty and bloom gild and brighten our way,
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—for could Youth and could Love do without ye?

All ye children of Summer, and daughters of Day,
Ye that brighten our world, and that lighten our way,
How ye spread your rich charm round the green banks and bowers,
How ye wreathe the flushed wings of the golden-clad hours.
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—for could Youth and could Love do without ye?

217

Deep hyacinths—coloured like noon's sapphire skies,
Sweet Jessamines, fair as night's clear scattered eyes—
Oh! primroses pale as love grows with delight,
When the adored one, in beauty's fair pride comes in sight—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Flowers! Flowers!—how could Love, how could Youth do without ye?

Faint anemones—shedding the tenderest of gleams—
As ye loved the Sun's rays less than Moonlight's soft beams,
Bright jonquilles—still filling the delicate air
With a fragrance refined, floating dreamily there—
Be Blessings about ye!—be blessings about ye,
Flowers! Flowers!—how could Love, how could Youth do without ye?

Ever—children of sunshine and daughters of day,
Shed delight round our dwellings, and smiles round our way,
And clasp us in chains of that gentle delight—
'Mid Earth's joys 'tis the purest—it should not take flight—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—for could Love, and could Youth do without ye?

218

Round the bride's blushing forehead, flowers! flowers! ever twine,
Not fairer were wreaths of Heaven's crowned stars divine;
And, Oh! lend too a life-like and tremulous bloom
To the slumberer whose pillow is spread in the tomb—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—for could Feeling or Love do without ye?

At the festival, smile with your fairest of smiles,
Nature's breath grows more dear amid arts' laboured wiles,
And the garland that hangs by the proud mirror'd wall,
Seems worth the vain show, and the gaudy pomps all—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Flowers! Flowers!—how could Love, how could Joy do without ye?

Ye richly enhance and serenely adorn
The beauty and triumph of fair-beaming Morn—
And the glory of Noon, and the soft grace of Eve—
From ye—a fresh charm they for ever receive—
Be Blessings about ye!—be blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—how could Love or could Youth do without ye?

219

Ye soothe us in sorrow—ye bless us in joy,
And the pleasure ye bring us may know not to cloy;
Oh! children of Sunlight, bright daughters of day,
'Tis the breath of lost Eden ye fling round our way—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Sweet Flowers!—for could Love or could Youth do without ye?

Bright children of Sunshine!—fair daughters of day,
Gild the golden-flushed hours!—and redouble the ray!
Ye are Nature's own poetry—lo, how ye start—
Gushing, glowing, and bright from her full fervent heart—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Flowers!—Flowers!—for could Youth, Love, or Hope do without ye?

Ye are Nature's own poetry!—nothing breathes there
Of the work-day World's trouble—the every day's care—
Are ye idle and useless?—Oh! weak impious thought,
The same hand formed your stems, that Creation's frame wrought—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Flowers!—Flowers!—for could Youth or Youth's Love do without ye?

220

Blest children of Sunshine!—bright daughters of day,
Ye gladden our triumphs, and gild our decay—
The festival craves ye from sweet sheltered spot,
And dark grows the funeral where ye're scattered not—
Be Blessings about ye!—be Blessings about ye,
Flowers!—Flowers!—for could Love, Hope, or Grief do without ye?