6
LOVE.
The rosebud's crimson petals hold, Wrapped in its glowing heart;A dream of Love, a promise sweet, Of its own bloom a part.Each little bird on yonder bough, In some green tree-top has a mate,And cherishes, with mother care, Her brood, for Love's sweet sake.
'Twas Love that lost a conqueror's fame, That shamed great Rome's proud day;When Egypt's queen a heart enthralled, That spurned an Empire's sway;'Twas Love that wrecked, the sinless soul, Of Heloise, so young and fair;That bound her to a convent cell, In solitude and prayer.
'Tis Love that binds the broken heart, That cheers the fainting soul,'Tis Love that makes Life's labor sweet, And flecks with sunlight's gold;The life, that knows such weary hours; 'Twere almost glad to know,The present merged in gloomy Death, Save for Love's circling glow.