FORGET ME NOT. AMERICAN WILD FLOWERS, FOR QUEEN VICTORIA. BY MISS H. F. GOULD. FAIR Sovereign, whose young maiden brow Not drawn by state or titles forth, I bring these fresh wild-flowers to lay. Not reared in courts, nor sunned by gold, The proud New England, not the Old, For I'm a daughter of the land Beyond the waves, of loud renown, That took the vow, and raised the brand Against thy royal grandsire's crown. 'Twas her bold eagle, deemed so rough, Yet what, perhaps, inspirits me, Is British blood, that warms my veinsThat here I boast my ancestry Of land o'er which VICTORIA reigns. Not far from where thy palace towers, In sleep, from which their dust and ours But, while the merit is not mine, We both were in the future when My wild young country slipped her yoke; Though my brave father struggled then, Until his foreign bondage broke. God's blessings on his reverend head! To be composed of hoary hairs. And fourscore years and ten have given, As near the tomb they bear him down, An earnest lustre opening heaven Seems pouring on that silvery crown. Yet still he lends his aged ear, His heart will then, as 'twere a fount With fervent spirit oft he prays, That Heaven will give a light to shine, To guide thee safe in all thy ways, And bless the world in thee and thine. For we have marked thy modest worth, We've seen thee, meek and graceful, move And, aided by the artist's skill, We've looked upon his form and thine, Till fancy made the spirit fill The shadow of the distant shrine. We saw thee as a joyous bride, And heard thee midst that grand array, With blest Prince Albert by thy side, Pronounce the wondrous word, Obey ! Methought that tie of mutual love- With sweet acclaim recorded there. And now appears thy precious gem, And shield the bud from stain and blight! Long may'st thou, Royal Rose, be bound Without a canker or a thorn! |