THRIVE, gentle plant! and weave a bower For Mary and for me, And deck with many a splendid flower Thy foliage large and free. Thou camest from Eartham, and wilt shade (If truly I divine) Some future day the illustrious head Of him who made thee mine. Should Daphne show a jealous frown, And Envy seize the bay, Affirming none so fit to crown Such honoured brows as they, Thy cause with zeal we shall defend, And with convincing power; For why should not the Virgin's Friend Be crowned with Virgin's Bower? |