colby_fam_b2_f29_39

The Rosebud June 18th 1848

Sweetest flower in Nature's prime
Sweetest in thy budding time,
Rosebud; bright and dewy gem
Queenlike on thy downy stem
In bashful beauty thy leaflets close,
Sweetest bud, of sweetest rose,
Half unveiled thy beauties fair
Like modest merit rich and rare
And peeping from thy silken sheen
Half thy charms are dimly seen
Fairest form and brightest eye
Who would pass [untouching] by
Conscious beauty we may admire
But beauty cannot love inspire
But a modest sweet and lowly mind
(Those gems of worth we seldom find,)
These will impact a sweeter charm
Than in the brightest finest form.
Love must be based on inate worth
else 'twill perish like things of earth.
And modesty to beauty her charms impart
To make a lasting impression on the heart.
+ + +
I do not love thee, beautious one
When all unfolded to the sun
When every passing eye may gaze
And every tongue thy beauties praise.
Radiant and bright thy blossomed gem
But I do not love thee, no, not then.
But when confined in thy silken-fold
Half thy charms remain untold