Littell's Living Age/Volume 128/Issue 1657/The Best Use

by Mary Ainge De Vere

THE BEST USE.

Out of the bud the bright rose bloweth,
And all the soul of her sweetness goeth
⁠Abroad to the sun and wind and rain;
But ah! ah never, in any weather,
Can she fold up her leaves together,
⁠And close herself in a bud again!

But if the sun and wind be sweeter,
And summer’s beautiful dress completer
⁠Because of the rose’s graceful part,
Were it not wiser far and better
Than, bound and locked in her fair green fetter,
⁠To die with an untouched virgin heart?

Mary Ainge De Vere⁠

⁠Evening Post.