Poems by Felicia Dorothea Browne/Sonnet to a Dying Exotic

by Felicia Hemans

SONNET TO A DYING EXOTIC.

Ah! lovely faded plant, the blight I mourn,
    That withered all thy blossoms fair and gay;
    I saw thee blushing to the genial May,
And now thy leaves are drooping and forlorn.
I mark'd thy early beauty with a smile,
    And saw with pride the crimson buds expand;
They open'd to the sunbeam for a while,
    By all the flattering gales of summer fann'd.
Ah! faded plant, I raise thy languid head,
    And moisten every leaf with balmy dew;
But now thy rich luxuriant bloom is fled,
    Thy foliage wears a pale autumnal hue;
Too soon thy glowing colours have decay'd,
Like thee the flowers of pleasure smile and fade.