Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LILY AND THE LINDEN, by FRED CROSBY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LILY AND THE LINDEN, by                    
First Line: Far away under skies of blue
Last Line: And gilded the grave of the lily fair.
Subject(s): Flowers; Lilies; Nature


FAR away under skies of blue,
In the pleasant land beyond the sea,
Bathed with sunlight and washed with dew,
Budded and bloomed the fleur-de-lis.

Through mists of morning, one by one,
Grandly the perfect leaves unfold,
And the dusky glow of the sinking sun
Flushed and deepened its hues of gold.

She saw him rise o'er the rolling rhine,
She saw him set in the western sea,
"Where is the empress, garden mine,
Doth rule a realm like the fleur-de-lis?

"The forest trembles before the breath,
From the island oak to the northern pine,
And the blossoms pale with the hue of death
When my anger rustles the tropic vine.

"The lotus wakes from its slumbers lone,
To waft its homage unto me,
And the spice-groves lay before my throne
The tribute due to the fleur-de-lis!"

So hailed she vassals far and wide,
Till her glance swept over a hemisphere,
But noted not, in her queenly pride,
A slender sapling growing near.

Slow uprising o'er glade and glen,
Its branches bent in the breezes free,
But its roots were set in the hearts of men,
Who gave their life to the linden-tree.

"Speak, O seer of the mighty mien!
Answer, sage of the mystic air!
What is the lot of the linden green?
What is the fate of the lily fair?"

"Hear'st thou the wail of the winter wake?
Hear'st thou the roar of the angry sea?
Ask not, for heaven's own thunders break
On the linden fair and the fleur-de-lis!"

. . . . . .

The storm-clouds fade from the murky air,
Again the freshening breezes blow,
The sunbeams rest on the garden rare,
But the lily lies buried beneath the snow!

From the ice-locked Rhine to the western sea
Mournfully spreads the wintry pall,
Cold and still is the fleur-de-lis,
But the linden threatens to shadow all!

Frowning down on the forest wide,
Darkly loometh his giant form,
Alone he stands in his kingly pride,
And mocks at whirlwind and laughs at storm.

"Speak, O sage of the mystic air!
Answer, seer of the mighty mien!
Must all thy trees of the forest fair
Fall at the feet of the linden green?"

"Wouldst thou the scroll of the future see?
Thus I divine the fate of all!
A worm is sapping the linden-tree,
The pride that goeth before a fall.

"For shame may come to the haughty crest,
A storm may sweep from the northern sea,
And winds from the east and winds from the west
May blow in wrath o'er the linden-tree!

"Here, where the voice of the winter grieves,
The lily hath lain its regal head;
Bright was the gleam of the golden leaves,
But the lily was flecked with spots of red.

"Behind the clouds of the battle strife
The glow of resurrection see!
Lo! I proclaim a newer life,
The truer birth of the fleur-de-lis!"

Thus saith the seer of the mighty mien,
Thus saith the sage of the mystic air,
The sunshine fell from the linden green
And gilded the grave of the lily fair.





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