Thy gaze and thy approach I shun,
Tho’ gladden’d in thy sight,
As lilies droop before the sun
Yet live upon his light.
The nightingale in Sharon’s bow’r
Is silent when he glows,
Tho’ to his life-diffusing pow’r
Her summer-song she owes:
The palm, Samaria’s purple pride,
Unfolds its nectar’d fruit,
But deep in darkness strives to hide
The tendrils of its root:
Thus maiden Beauty shuns the gaze
Which all its triumph brings;
Thus Love its glowing tribute pays
But shews not whence it springs.
For a member of Positive House
March 10th