Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A CHILD OF FIVE YEARS OLD, by NATHANIEL COTTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A CHILD OF FIVE YEARS OLD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fairest flower, all flowers excelling
Last Line: Evergreens! Which ne'er decay.
Subject(s): Aging; Beauty; Flowers; Nature


FAIREST flower, all flowers excelling,
Which in Milton's page we see;
Flowers of Eve's embower'd dwelling
Are, my fair-one, types of thee.

Mark, my Polly, how the roses
Emulate thy damask cheek;
How the bud its sweets discloses——
Buds thy opening bloom bespeak.

Lilies are by plain direction
Emblems of a double kind;
Emblems of thy fair complexion,
Emblems of thy fairer mind.

But, dear girl, both flowers and beauty
Blossom, fade, and die away;
Then pursue good sense and duty,
Evergreens! which ne'er decay.





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