Poem by Maria Jane Jewsbury

On Receiving a Bunch of Flowers from the Author of 'The Excursion'

Flowers! that a poet’s hand hath cull’d,
Ye lull, as oft his strains have lull’d
Thoughts that my heart consume:
In harmony your tints oppose,
Carnation, jessamine, and rose—
A melody of bloom.


And yet ere night, your leaves, forlorn,
Will ask— “Where are the dews of morn? ”
To-morrow— “Where the sun? ”
And, missing these, the gracious powers,
That are divinities to flowers,
Soon will your lives be done.

But now how beautiful ye are!
Each gleameth on me like a star,
Only with milder hue;
And many a thought and fancy fleet,
And some, by sadness made more sweet,
Bright flowers I give to you.

Sadness! I dare not look on thee,
Thou richly red anemone!
And let the word remain.
I dare not think of him who wrought ye,
Nor even of the hand that brought ye,
With thoughts akin to pain.

So, vanish sadness from my rhyme!
Killing all beauty ere its time:
I will not muse on death;
But only wish that I could be
Innocent, lovely flowers, as ye,
Living a life of tranquil glee,
Undimm’d by Passion’s breath.

1. The Oceanides. No. 7. The Spirit of the Cape
2. The Oceanides. No. 4. The Sunken Rock
3. Address to Sleep
4. Lines Written after Reading Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative
5. The Oceanides. No. 3. The Burden of the Sea

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