Poems (Davidson)/Lines addressed to a Cousin

by Lucretia Maria Davidson

LINES ADDRESSED TO A COUSIN.

She gave me a flow'ret,—and O! it was sweet'
 'Twas a pea in full bloom, with its dark crimson leaf,
And I said in my heart, this shall be thy retreat!
 'Tis one "sacred to Friendship"—a stranger to grief.

In my bosom I placed it,—'tis withered and gone!
 All its freshness, its beauty, its fragrance had fled!
And in sorrow I sighed,—Am I thus left alone?
 Is the gift which I cherished quite faded and dead?

It has withered! but she who presented it blooms,
 Still fresh and unfading, in memory here!
And through life shall here flourish, 'mid danger and glooms,
 As sweet as the flower, though more lasting and fair!