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THE LILY OF THE VALLEY,

CHOSEN THE EMBLEM OF INNOCENCE.

1 SOPHROSYNE, companion dear,
2 Who hangs a pearl in Pity's ear,
3 And wanders through the dewy lawn
4 To catch the rose-bud newly blown,
5 And tied yon knot of fringy flowers,
6 And darken'd all the grove with bowers;
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7 Who bade yon Lily of the Vale
8 Tell o'er her artless simple tale;
9 That, going to queen Flora's court,
10 Where once a year flowers all resort,
11 She wander'd through the woodlands wide,
12 And saw the babbling streamlet glide,
13 With many a Daisy sitting here,
14 And many a Cowslip walking there,
15 And many a Harebell tinkling loud,
16 And many a Pansy dress'd and proud,
17 And many a Primrose faint and pale,
18 All stationed up and down the dale;
19 With these acquaintance soon she made,
20 And lov'd the flowers that lov'd the shade;
21 Ask'd Flora if she there might stay,
22 And shun the fervour of the day;
23 And when the Primrose pale should die,
24 With purer sweets her loss supply.
25 This humble prayer gay Flora grants,
26 For soon supply'd are little wants;
27 And bade Retirement form a shade
28 Of willows sweet, to sooth the maid.
29 But Innocence one day had been
30 Culling some flowerets on the green,
31 And many a gay one fondly press'd,
32 And many a sweet one wooed her breast,
33 But yet an emblem of her mind
34 This blue-eyed stranger could not find.
35 It chanc'd Sophrosyne with Eve
36 Went out, her 'custom'd bower to weave,
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37 And sprinkling with soft Pity's dew
38 Each drooping flower that lost its hue,
39 Bade gentle Eve refreshment lend
40 To all that faint or lowly bend.
41 Not far from hence a Nymph was seen
42 Of meek-set eye and artless mien;
43 Soft white the well turn'd limbs enfolds;
44 Her tresses a blue riband holds,
45 And as the winds the locks unfurl,
46 Give birth to many a beauteous curl.
47 A straw-wrought hat with care was tied,
48 As if her lovely face to hide;
49 Her apron tuck'd and full of flowers,
50 She carried to Sophrosyne's bowers,
51 While Innocence was waiting there,
52 And tying up her nut-brown hair —
53 For all the flowers she yet had found
54 She threw upon the thankless ground —
55 And thus she cried: "Lie there — I see
56 Nought can prevent my destiny;
57 My race is run unless I find
58 An emblem of my spotless mind;
59 This Fate avers — to that I yield,
60 And quit this for th' Elysian field."
61 "Simplicity!" Sophrosyne cried,
62 "Where hast thou been? — I will not chide;
63 But haste, some emblem thou can'st find
64 Of the pure, spotless, artless mind!"
65 "O! yes, Sophrosyne, see here
66 The sweetest flower of all the year;
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67 But 'tis not mixed among the rest,
68 I ever wear it in my breast."
69 So saying, show'd the Lily fair,
70 The Valley's pride, was shelter'd there;
71 Then Innocence her emblem knew,
72 And own'd how strong the likeness grew;
73 And own'd, too, that no other flower
74 That shows its face at any hour,
75 Could e'er so tenderly declare
76 'Twas half so spotless, pure, and fair.

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Title (in Source Edition): THE LILY OF THE VALLEY, CHOSEN THE EMBLEM OF INNOCENCE.
Author: Susanna Blamire
Themes:
Genres: narrative verse

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Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire “The muse of Cumberland.” Now for the first time collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. with a preface, memoir, and notes by Patrick Maxwell, ... Edinburgh: John Menzies, 61 Princes Street; R. Tyas, London; D. Robertson, Glasgow; and C. Thurnam, Carlisle. MDCCCXLII., 1842, pp. 40-43.  (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [42.256].)

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Other works by Susanna Blamire