Then said my heart to me:
`Learn from the rhyme that now shall come to thee
What fits thy Love most lovingly.'

This gift that learning shows;
For, as a rhyme unto its rhyme-twin goes,
I send a rose unto a Rose.

____
Philadelphia, 1876.



Notes: To ----, with a Rose


This poem was sent to Mrs. Gibson Peacock, of Philadelphia,
who was one of Mr. Lanier's kindest and most appreciative friends.
The poet's letters to Mr. and Mrs. Peacock have recently been published
in `The Atlantic' (see `Thayer' in `Bibliography').

Of the numerous rose-compliments in English I can here specify but a few.
One of the prettiest is that by Henry Constable (`Saintsbury', p. 113):

"My Lady's presence makes the Roses red,
Because to see her lips they blush for shame."

Carew's compliment is hardly equal to his morals (`Gosse', p. 101):