[Editor: This poem by Philip Durham Lorimer was published in Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, 1901.]
Rose
Set in my heart’s most hallowed spot,
Is one dear name ;
With Love’s sweet, true forget-me-not,
In Spring it came,
Seeking just a quiet rest
On some loving darling’s breast.
Ah ! who’s to blame ?
On morning’s wing it came to me,
With fragrance sweet,
Kissed by some early zephyrs free,
Where breezes meet.
With a chastened sound it fell,
Grently where life’s love-songs dwell,
My heart to greet.
I would not see it fading there,
Untried its power ;
Spring rains should nourish it with care,
For one blest hour.
Hidden from a world of sin,
Beauty’s soul still rested in
That op’ning flower.
What though life’s changes harshly bring
To Love, fell foes ;
And hopes to which once I would cling
Melted like snows —
If one bright gleam in mem’ry still
Brings unto me thy love at will —
Thou beauteous Rose !
Inverell, New England, June 7, 1890.
Source:
E. A. Petherick (editor). Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, William Clowes and Sons, London, 1901, pages 122-123
Editor’s notes:
zephyr = a breeze from the west, especially a gentle breeze (from Zephyrus, or Zephyr, god of the west wind in Greek mythology)
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