Page:Poems Rice.djvu/222

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LINESBY A LADY ON SEEING SOME STRICTURES ON HER WRITINGS.
WHY not condemn the opening flowers
For basking in the sun's bright ray,
As me for use of yearning powers
When nature calls me to obey.

Why not condemn the light, the season,
The sweeping clouds, the drooping fruit,
As crush those strains when chiding reason
Whispers I must not keep them mute.

Why not condemn the meteor's flashes,
That oft illume the evening sky;
Condemn the wind or wave that dashes,
When warring elements go by?