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


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE TO THE POPPY, by                    
First Line: Not for the promise of the laboured field
Last Line: Burst these terrestrial bonds, and other regions try.
Alternate Author Name(s): Boyle, Henrietta
Subject(s): Poppies


NOT for the promise of the laboured 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 does so far exceed
The richest gifts gay Flora can bestow:
Heedless I passed 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 crowned,
As Venus smiled, or Venus frowned;
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 terrestrial bonds, and other regions try.





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