Poems of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Forget Me Not, 1826/The Choice
THE CHOICE.
Now take thy choice, thou maiden fair,
Of the gifts thy lovers bring;
The one has brought thee jewels rare,
The other flowers of spring.
The maiden watched the rubies glow,
And wreathed them in her hair;
But heavy they prest upon her brow,
Like the weight of secret care.
The gems that bound her forehead high,
Might have lighted a diadem;
Yet pale grew her cheek, and dim her eye—
Her heart was not with them:
And ever an inward pulse would stir,
When she saw a spring flower wave;
But never again did they bloom for her,
Till they bloomed upon her grave!
She was borne to her grave with purple pall,
And scutcheon, and waving plume;
One followed—the saddest one of all—
And threw flowers over her tomb.
L. E. L.