SOFT , gentle flower, of silver pale,
Retiring lily of the vale;
Graceful thy trembling blossoms blow,
Fair rivals to unsullied snow:
Secure within their leafy cells,
Profusely drop thy pearly bells;
Shunning the common gaze so rude,
On thy retirement few intrude.
O’erlook’d thy charms by vulgar eyes,
Thy fragile form they would despise,
And more the gaudy tulip prize;
Which, rich in gaudy, numerous rays,
Stands foremost to attract all praise.
The hollyoak next, in towering height,
Awhile delights the wand’ring sight;
And Pione’s deep blushing red,
The warmest tint, by Nature spread.
The poppy’s colours, bright and bold,
And the gay sun-flower’s burnish’d gold;
The aster, of unnumber’d hue,
The flag-flower’s glowing shades of blue.
All these so rare in beauties bloom,
Boast not thy fragrant, soft perfume;
They strike the eye, unus’d to trace
Thy chastness, innocence, and grace;
For meek-ey’d modesty is rare
An object of the public care.
And oft doth genuine worth, I ween,
Like thee expand, and die unseen;
Unheeded by the breath of fame,
Unknown in merit, as in name.
(Caroline Maxwell)
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