Fair flower, that dost so comely grow,
                Hid in this silent, dull retreat,
               Untouched thy homed blossoms blow,
                Unseen thy little branches greet:
                  No roving foot shall crush thee here,   
                  No busy hand provoke a tear.
               By Nature's self in white arrayed,
                She bade thee shun the vulgar eye,
               And planted here the guardian shade,
                And sent soft waters murmuring by;
                  Thus quietly thy summer goes,
                  Thy days declining to repose.
               Smit with those charms, that must decay,
                I grieve to see your future doom;
               They died--nor were those flowers more gay,
                The flowers that did in Eden bloom;
                  Unpitying frosts, and Autumn's power,
                  Shall leave no vestige of this flower.
               From morning suns and evening dews
                At first thy little being came;
               If nothing once, you nothing lose,
                For when you die you are the same; 
                  The space between is but an hour, 
                  The frail duration of a flower.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
The Wild Honeysuckle by Philip Freneau
Labels: Philip Freneau
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