colby_fam_b2_f29_34

Loose Papers
April 15th 1848

To Mrs Olive in return for her Daffodil
I thank thee Mrs Olive for that bright bloom of flower
Though its beauty must fade in the coming hour
Yet a lesson from its bright leaves I'll read
And the moral it teaches I'll faithfully heed.
For I know that as transient is the life of a flower
Are the joys that we feel in the youthful hour
And that [thine?] in its flight new beauties will bring
To the bud and the blossom for the coming of spring
But youth when it is past will never return
All unavailing the tears that're shed [ves] its urn.
(crossed out line of words]
No tears of regret can recall it ever
When once it is gone, it is gone forever.
I'll learn them from they fragile
To improve aright the present hour
And I'll watch my heart with a zealous care
To see that no weeds are growing there.
For the heart is a garden where many a weed
Obstructs the growth of flowers
For evil has sown its noxious seed
Throughout these hearts of ours.
Yet still some plants are growing there
Of a higher holier birth
Yet oft we cherish them with less care
Than the low[seasonal] weeds of earth.
Yet I'll learn from thy bright blossom
To cherish the good alone
And to eradicate from my bosom
The seeds that evil has sown.
For thee I'll wish that many a rose
May round thy pathway shine