To ripen into blossom.
These buds shall added blessings be,
To make our loves sincerer,
For as their flowers resemble thee
They'll make thy memory dearer.

And though thy bloom shall pass away,
By winter overtaken,
Thoughts of the past will charms display,
And many joys awaken.
When time shall every sweet remove,
And blight thee on my bosom,
Let beauty fade!--to me, my love,
Thou'lt ne'er be out of blossom!




THE POET TO THE PUBLIC

Although Clare's engagement to Martha Turner added to his
perplexities, it was really the immediate moving cause of his
determination to be up and doing. He resolved at length to publish a
collection of his poems, and consulted Mr. Henson, a printer, of
Market Deeping, on the subject. Mr. Henson offered to print three
hundred copies of a prospectus for a sovereign, but he firmly
declined the invitation of the poet to draw up that document. Clare
resolutely set to work to save the money for the printer, and soon
succeeded; but then there was the difficulty with regard to the
composition of the address to the public. He could write poetry; that