THE LILY OF THE VALLEY, CHOSEN THE EMBLEM OF INNOCENCE. Susanna Blamire Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 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.

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THE LILY OF THE VALLEY , CHOSEN THE EMBLEM OF INNOCENCE . SOPHROSYNE , companion dear , Who hangs a pearl in Pity's ear , And wanders through the dewy lawn To catch the rose-bud newly blown , And tied yon knot of fringy flowers , And darken'd all the grove with bowers ; Who bade yon Lily of the Vale Tell o'er her artless simple tale ; That , going to queen Flora's court , Where once a year flowers all resort , She wander'd through the woodlands wide , And saw the babbling streamlet glide , With many a Daisy sitting here , And many a Cowslip walking there , And many a Harebell tinkling loud , And many a Pansy dress'd and proud , And many a Primrose faint and pale , All stationed up and down the dale ; With these acquaintance soon she made , And lov'd the flowers that lov'd the shade ; Ask'd Flora if she there might stay , And shun the fervour of the day ; And when the Primrose pale should die , With purer sweets her loss supply . This humble prayer gay Flora grants , For soon supply'd are little wants ; And bade Retirement form a shade Of willows sweet , to sooth the maid . But Innocence one day had been Culling some flowerets on the green , And many a gay one fondly press'd , And many a sweet one wooed her breast , But yet an emblem of her mind This blue-eyed stranger could not find . It chanc'd Sophrosyne with Eve Went out , her 'custom'd bower to weave , And sprinkling with soft Pity's dew Each drooping flower that lost its hue , Bade gentle Eve refreshment lend To all that faint or lowly bend . Not far from hence a Nymph was seen Of meek-set eye and artless mien ; Soft white the well turn'd limbs enfolds ; Her tresses a blue riband holds , And as the winds the locks unfurl , Give birth to many a beauteous curl . A straw-wrought hat with care was tied , As if her lovely face to hide ; Her apron tuck'd and full of flowers , She carried to Sophrosyne's bowers , While Innocence was waiting there , And tying up her nut-brown hair — For all the flowers she yet had found She threw upon the thankless ground — And thus she cried : " Lie there — I see Nought can prevent my destiny ; My race is run unless I find An emblem of my spotless mind ; This Fate avers — to that I yield , And quit this for th' Elysian field . " " Simplicity ! " Sophrosyne cried , " Where hast thou been ? — I will not chide ; But haste , some emblem thou can'st find Of the pure , spotless , artless mind ! " " O ! yes , Sophrosyne , see here The sweetest flower of all the year ; But 'tis not mixed among the rest , I ever wear it in my breast . " So saying , show'd the Lily fair , The Valley's pride , was shelter'd there ; Then Innocence her emblem knew , And own'd how strong the likeness grew ; And own'd , too , that no other flower That shows its face at any hour , Could e'er so tenderly declare 'Twas half so spotless , pure , and fair .