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London Pride.
(SAXIFRAGA UMBROSA.)
(An Apology.)
Poor London Pride! Forgive the cruel wrongI did thee in my ill-considered song.
“Comparisons are odious,” I know,
And 'twas not fair, dear flower, to treat thee so.
Thou art not proud, so pleads thine advocate,
And I confess my error, tho' so late.
Thy dubious name speaks not thy quality,
But rather argues London proud of thee.
For I have seen thee in the sylvan glen,
Deep hidden from the curious gaze of men,
Crowning the mossy boulder, low between
The lacing willows and the brooklet's sheen.
I've seen thee where thou lovest best to dwell
Gracing green Erin's cooler hill and dell,
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With lavish love to make lone mountains gay.
Yet dost thou not our meaner tracts despise,
Smoke-laden breezes, fog-encumbered skies,
With face of gay content disdaining not
The unkempt nook of urban garden-plot.
Oh, humble Pride! Thy just revenge forego,
And in my London garden come and blow.
(1883.)
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