How much of memory dwells amidst thy bloom, Rose! ever wearing beauty for thy dower! The Bridal day -- the Festival -- the Tomb -- Thou hast thy part in each, -- thou stateliest flower! Therefore with thy soft breath come floating by A thousand images of Love and Grief, Dreams, filled with tokens of mortality, Deep thoughts of all things beautiful and brief. Not such thy spells o'er those that hailed thee first In the clear light of Eden's golden day; @3There@1 thy rich leaves to crimson glory burst, Linked with no dim remembrance of decay. Rose! for the banquet gathered, and the bier; Rose! coloured now by human hope or pain; Surely where death is not -- nor change nor fear, Yet may we meet thee, Joy's own Flower, again! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NO PLATONIQUE LOVE by WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT TO THE MEMORY OF MR. OLDHAM by JOHN DRYDEN THE EBB AND FLOW by EDWARD TAYLOR SONNET: 9. TO THE RIVER LODON by THOMAS WARTON THE YOUNGER A SOUL'S SOLILOQUY by WENONAH STEVENS ABBOTT A DREAM, OR THE TYPE OF THE RISING SUN by JEAN ADAMS HYMN TO THE NAIADS by MARK AKENSIDE |