Poems (Denver)/The Messenger-Rose

by Mary Caroline Denver

THE MESSENGER ROSE.

Go forth as a stranger, my beautiful rose,
 To die in a far distant land!
Haste o'er the dark water between us that flows,
 To one of our own kindred band.
With the language of beauty and purity fraught,
 From the home of his heart thou shalt go,
To breathe in his ear every exquisite thought,
 Such thoughts as the loved only know.

"I have come from the home of thy youth," thou shalt say,
 "Where the blue skies are shining above;
I have left all my own sister-roses to-day,
 To bring thee a message of love.
Affection's embassy, I faithful fulfill,
 For this I have hitherward flown;
Affection's memento,—O! cherish me still,
 When my beauty is faded and gone.

"I have seen the broad prairie stretch wide from my sight,
 As I gazed on its glory the while;
And a shadow of darkness, a gleam of delight
 Passed by, like a frown and a smile.
Each voice from the flowery desert seemed stern
 To the music from whence I had come;
A stranger, and restless, I longed to return
 And bathe in the sunlight of home.

"I have come to thee now, I have come from afar,
 From the home of thy kindred away;
I have come from the spot which thy boyhood's proud star
 Once lighted for many a day.
And well do I know what my welcome will be,
 Though the exile thou should'st not retain,
Though broken and lost, I'll remain still to thee
 One link in thy memory's chain!

"The wild prairie-flower may gladden thy gaze,
 Yet a void will remain in thy heart;
It cannot recall to thee boyhood's proud lays,
 Nor voices to memory impart.
That potency's mine, and my power it will be
 While the past with the present shall blend;
While one hope of thy youth clings in beauty to thee,
 To bid each new impulse ascend.

"A mirror of memory to thee I'll be,
 Whence visions of beauty shall start;
And a voice from my pale leaves will whisper to thee
 'I have come from thy kindred in heart.'
Oh! think of them kindly, and let not a thought
 Of pain overshadow with gloom;
Oh! think of them kindly, and all unforgot
 Be the magical music of home!

"And when my sweet influence wins back thy mind,
 When the bright stream of memory flows,
When life's immortelles round thy temples are twined,
 Forget not the Messenger Rose!
For I come from the home of thy kindred to-day,
 A message of love to impart:
Ah! think of me still, when the blight of decay,
 Has smitten the bloom of my heart!"