This office I would now assign;
But flowers will all decay!

A bird would suit my purpose more,
With filial heart endued;
But, ere their little life is o'er,
Birds lose their gratitude!

No emblem of the love I feel
Appears within my view;
Less ardent, or less pure the zeal,
Less tender, or less true!

All I can do is to avow,
My services are thine;
And that my spirit still shall bow,
Before my Valentine.




VI.

THE LOVER'S APOLOGY.


I look'd into her eyes,
And saw something divine,
For there, like summer lightning,
Swift coruscations shine.