Poems (Stephens)/Arbutus

by Eliza Jane Stephens

For works with similar titles, see Arbutus.

ARBUTUS.

These dainty clusters, pink and white,
 So mingled with this leafy green,
Awaken peasant memories
 Of many a delightful scene.

Too well I knew thy rugged home,
 This lonely wild on mountain side,
Where hemlock, pints, and laurel grow,
 And in their shade thy verdure hide

No mortal hand has tended thee,
 Or guarded thee with selfish care,
Ami yet, ere winter snows were gone,
 Thy fragrant bloom perfumed the air.

A struggle must be thine to live
 In such a lone, secluded place,
But if 'twas desolate before,
 Thy presence gives it wondrous grace.

And who can say 'twas not for this,
 A Being full of love has made
Thy homo amid the moss and rocks,
 And bids thee live, and bloom in shade

For often in some favored dell,
 Such floral masses we can see,
That with their beauty and perfume,
 It cannot have a need of thee.

And thou art in thy fitting sphere,
 Though anywhere an added charm,
A Mighty Being planted thee,
 His love has shielded thee from harm.