Poems (Follen)/Thanks to a Friend

by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

THANKS TO A FRIEND,

WHO SENT ME A BEAUTIFUL BUNCH OF VERY SMALL ROSES WHEN I WAS QUITE ILL.

Such beauteous roses ne'er were seen!
Was it not some fairy queen,
Who, with kind intent, I deem,
Came last night to bless your dream,
And, frightened at the morning ray,
Like other visions, fled away;
But, as in careless haste she fled,
Dropped these roses from her head?
But, if they came from earth or heaven,
Thanks for the pleasure they have given;
For the enchanting hope they bring
Of health, returning with the Spring.
They have beguiled some hours of pain,
Bade hope and fancy smile again.
And shouldst thou know that dreary day,
When sickness wastes the frame away,
Then may to you some friendly hand
Bring flowers of earth or fairy land;
With such a bloom, and sweet perfume,
To dissipate, like these, the gloom
Which gathers round the heart and head,
Whence health and all its joys have fled.