Poems (Sherwin)/Hope and disappointment

by Elizabeth Sherwin

HOPE AND DISAPPOINTMENT.

What is hope? a beauteous flower
 That blooming courts the youthful hand
It grows in every earthly bower,
 By gentle, genial breezes fanned.

But still, as each fond anxious wretch
 Attempts to pluck it from the stem,
Scarce can his trembling finger stretch,
 E'er disappointment snaps the gem.