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Page:Fairy tales, now first collected by Joseph Ritson.djvu/199

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189
KENSINGTON GARDEN.
Its ripen'd seeds from bank to bank convey'd,And with her lover whiten'd half the shade.Thus won from death each spring she sees him growAnd glories in the vegetable snow,Which now increased through wide Britannias plains,Its parents warmth and spotless name retains;First leader of the flowery race aspires,And foremost catches the suns genial fires,'Mid frosts and snows triumphant dares appear,Mingles the seasons, and leads on the year.Deserted now of all the pygmy race,Nor man nor fairy touch'd this guilty place.In heaps on heaps, for many a rolling age,It lay accursed the mark of Neptunes rage;"Till great Nassau recloth'd the desert shadeThence sacred to Britannias monarchs made."Twas then the green-robed nymph, fair Kenna, came,(Kenna that gave the neighbouring town its name).Proud when she saw th' ennobled garden shineWith nymphs and heros of her lovers line.She vow'd to grace the mansions once her own,And picture out in plants the fairy town.