PLANTING GERANIUM AND BOX
ON THE GRAVE OF AN AGED FRIEND.
Fragile plant, of slender form,
Fair, and shrinking from the storm,
Raise thou here, thy timid head,
Bloom in this uncultur'd bed:
Thou, of firmer spirit, too,
Stronger texture, deeper hue,
Dreading not the blasts that sweep,
Rise, and guard its infant sleep.
Fear ye not the lonely shade
Where the bones of men are laid;
Short, like yours, their transient date,—
Keen hath been the scythe of fate.
Forth, like plants, in glory drest,
They came upon the green earth's breast,
Spread forth their roots to reach the stream,—
Their blossoms, toward the rising beam,
- ↑
• This tribute to the memory of a kind benefactress of childhood, though written in early years, seemed not inappropriate to the present selection.
