Poems (Follen)/To the Night-blooming Cereus
TO THE NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS.[1]
Now departs day's garish light, Beauteous flower! lift thy head, Rise upon the brow of night, And thy transient lustre shed.
Night has dropped her dusky veil; All vain thoughts be distant far. While with silent joy we hail Flora's radiant evening star.
See! to life her beauties start: Hail! thou lovely, matchless flower; Much thou sayest to the heart, In thy fleeting, solemn hour.
Ere we have our homage paid, Thou wilt bow thy head and die; Thus our sweetest pleasures fade, Thus our brightest blessings fly.
Sorrow's rugged stem, like thine, Bears a flower thus purely bright; Thus, when sunny hours decline, Friendship sheds her cheering light:
And Religion, heavenly flower, Joy of never-fading worth,Like thee, in the darkest hour Puts her peerless glories forth.
Then thy beauties are surpassed, Splendid flower, that bloom'st to die; Friendship and religion last, When the morning dawns on high.
Emblem just of earthly bliss, Wondrous stranger, fare thee well! What a brilliant dream it is, To the mournful heart you tell.
- ↑ It is well known, that this flower, of unrivalled beauty, blooms only in the night, and fades as the daylight appears.