To J W

Dear Jane you say you will gather flowers     To win if you may a verse from me     Can you bring to me those brillant hours     When life was gladdened by poesy?     Bring me the rose with pearls on her breast,     Dropped down as tears from early skies,     Pale lilies gather among the rest     And little daisies, with starry eyes     The heart's-ease bring for many a day     In vain for that flow'ret fair I sought     Turn not your gathering hand away     From the wee blue flower, forget me not     Unless inspiration on them rest     In vain you tempt me to rise and sing     The passage bird that sang in my breast     Has fled away with my life's young spring     My harp on a lonely grave is laid,     Untuned, unstrung, it will lie there long,     If you bring flowers alone dear maid     Without bringing the spirit of song     But accept the friendship that can spring     Out of this romantic heart of mine,     Devoted, true and unwithering,     And for ever thine, for ever thine