Part 2 — TO THE VIOLET.

Sweet trophy of life's morning, fresh and calm, Dropped from the gleanings of relentless time, How from thy dainty chalice steals the balm That hung like incense o'er its dewy prime! The lily's stateliness thou dost not own, Nor glow voluptuous of the damask rose, Thou canst not emulate the laurel's crown, Nor, like the Cereus, watch while all repose. And these gay rivals of parterre and field May freely drink the sunshine and the dew, But only unto thee does heaven yield The pure reflection of her cloudless blue. Thy tint will sometimes darken till it wear A purple such as decked the eastern kings, And yet, like innocence, all unaware Its tribute to the wind thy blossom flings. Symbol of what is cherished and untold, Thy fragrance oft reveals thee to the sight, Peering in beauty from the common mould, As casual blessings the forlorn requite. Thy image upon Laura's robe was wrought, O'er which her poet with devotion mused, And gentle souls, I ween, have ever caught From thee a solace that the world refused. The Tuscan flower-girls delight to cheer Each pensive exile with thy scented leaves, Fit largess of a clime to fancy dear, Which a new blandishment from thee receives. Grief's frenzy, when it melts, of thee will rave, As of a thing too winsome to decay, And thus Laertes at his sister's grave Bids violets spring from her unsullied clay. Lowly incentive to celestial thought! We ne'er with listless step can pass thee by, For thou with tender embassies art fraught, Like the fond beaming of a northern eye. Hence thou art sacred to our human needs; Laid on the maiden's white and throbbing breast Thy delicate odor for the absent pleads, And mourners strew thee where their idols rest. In those wild hours when feeling chafed its bound, And deepened more that utterance was denied, In thee persuasive messengers I found That reached the haven of love's wayward tide. And I have borne thee to the couch of death When naught remained to do but wait and pray, And marked the sudden flush and quickened breath That proved thee dear though all had passed away!