Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE TO THE EARLIEST SNOWDROP, by MARCUS S. C. RICKARDS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE TO THE EARLIEST SNOWDROP, by                    
First Line: Chaste flower, I fear to do thee wrong!
Last Line: A rival host should mar.
Subject(s): Beauty; Flowers; Life; Winter


CHASTE flower, I fear to do thee wrong!
The first-born of a stainless throng
Might claim as delicate a song
As poet ever wrought.
I covet no diviner theme;
To look upon thee is to dream
Of Joy and Loveliness supreme
Above terrestrial thought.

Pure child of Winter's ripe old age
By fresh young Spring! thy parentage
Reveals itself in every stage
Of tender life and growth:
Paternal snow, maternal green
Lend twofold beauty to thy mien,
And tho' thy cast toward her lean,
Stamp thee as born of both.

Methinks he, stern and gloomy, kept
One day's bright jubilee, and wept
Impassioned tears as thou up-leapt
In such ethereal grace,
The while she kissed and fondled thee,
Well pleased that, tho' ill-mated, he
Ere dying, left as legacy
His look in thy young face.

To name thee, Heaven and Earth may yield
Fair types -- a sacred Truth revealed;
A pure resolve or wish concealed
Till now in some dark breast;
A maiden early called from sleep
Due matin Rites and Vows to keep;
A holy face that bends to weep
O'er stormy Earth's unrest.

The welcome babe that first appears,
The meek girl charming thro' her fears,
The hoary Saint bowed down with years
Each lend an image true:
But O! the sweetest to my mind
Shall feign thee one of Angel kind,
Pitched on our tearful world to find
Sad spirits she may woo --

A lovely Seraph -- for my heart
Is won by this Celestial art;
And richly does its spell impart
Rare virtue, strength and hope.
Thy solitary beauty, hid
From common criticism, chid
My lust for eulogy and bid
Me crave no ampler scope.

Thy purity 'mid no support
Encouraged me thro' ill report,
And scant companionship to court
Fair Honour's snowy meed.
And, glorious truth! wherever one
Brave flower has thus its course begun,
A bevy struggle to the Sun
Obedient to its lead.

Ah, blessings on thee! thou hast taught
Me patience here: no holy thought
Has blossomed ever but has brought
A many in its train:
No longing steals thro' earthly rift
To claim warm Heaven's fostering gift,
But a sweet virgin host uplift
Meek prayer, nor sue in vain.

Scarce ever bitter trouble froze
A human life, but there uprose
Some budding whiteness to unclose
In flowering beauty soon:
And never knew I one bright spot
Discerned, but swift the saddest lot
Was gemmed with springing joys begot
By musing on that boon;

As 'mid eve's deepening shade the eye
Scans the first silver in the sky
And lo! a throng steal forth to vie
With that pure herald star:
No longer linger I, lone Flower!
Lest dreaming on, this sunny hour,
Thy sole prestige, thy single power
A rival host should mar.





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