Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE TO THE POPPY, by HENRIETTA O'NEIL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE TO THE POPPY, by                    
First Line: Not for the promise of the labour's field
Last Line: Burst these terrestial bonds, and other regions try!
Subject(s): Poppies


Not for the promise of the labour'd field,
Not for the good the yellow harvests yield,
I bend at Ceres' shrine;
For dull to humid eyes appear
The golden glories of the year;
Alas! a melancholy worship's mine:

I hail the goddess for her scarlet flower!
Thou brilliant weed,
That dost so far exceed
The richest gifts gay Flora can bestow,
Heedless I pass'd thee in life's morning hour,
Thou comforter of woe,
Till sorrow taught me to confess thy power.

In early days, when Fancy cheats,
A varied wreath I wove,
Of laughing Spring's luxuriant sweets,
To deck ungrateful Love:
The rose, or thorn, my labours crown'd,
As Venus smil'd, or Venus frown'd,
But Love and Joy and all their train are flown;
E'en languid Hope no more is mine,
And I will sing of thee alone:
Unless perchance the attributes of Grief,
The cypress bud and willow leaf
Their pale funereal foliage blend with thine.

Hail, lovely blossom! thou canst ease
The wretched victims of Disease;
Canst close those weary eyes in gentle sleep,
Which never open but to weep;
For oh! thy potent charm
Can agonizing Pain disarm;
Expel imperious Memory from her seat,
And bid the throbbing heart forget to beat.

Soul-soothing plant, that can such blessings give,
By thee the mourner bears to live!
By thee the hopeless die!
Oh, ever friendly to despair,
Might Sorrow's pallid votary dare,
Without a crime that remedy implore,
Which bids the spirit from its bondage fly,
I'd court thy palliative aid no more.

No more I'd sue that thou shouldst spread
Thy spell around my aching head;
But would conjure thee to impart
Thy balsam for a broken heart!
And by thy soft Lethean power,
Inestimable flower!
Burst these terrestial bonds, and other regions try!





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