Poems (Edwards)/The Last Rose

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

THE LAST ROSE.

The last rose is fading,
 Its beauty has fled,
Its leaves are all withered
 And drooping and dead.

But still, a sweet fragrance
 Is stealing around,
Though its beautiful petals
 Lie low on the ground.

'Tis falling, 'tis falling,
 That beautiful rose,
To slumber forever
 In dreamless repose.

Each breeze that sweeps o'er it
 Seems sadly to say,
"The last rose of summer
 Is passing away."

'Tis thus that we blossom,
 'Tis thus that we die,
We bloom with a smile,
 And depart with a sigh.

But like that sweet rose,
 May we leave in each heart,
A record of worth
 That shall never depart.