Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CONSUMPTIVE, by EMMA CATHERINE (MANLY) EMBURY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CONSUMPTIVE, by                    
First Line: Bring flowers, fresh flowers, the fairest spring can yield
Last Line: Bring flowers ere I depart.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ianthe
Subject(s): Death; Flowers; Hearts; Life; Tuberculosis; Dead, The; Consumption (pathology)


Bring flowers, fresh flowers, the fairest spring can yield --
The poetry of earth, o'er every field
Scattered in rich display;
Bring flowers, fresh flowers, around my dying bed,
The sweetness of the sunny south to shed,
Ere I am called away.

Bring flowers, fresh flowers, from every sheltered glade;
I know their brilliant beauties soon will fade
Beneath my feverish breath,
But their bright hues seem to my wondering thought
With promises of bliss and beauty fraught,
Winning my heart from death.

Bring flowers, fresh flowers; ere they again shall bloom
I shall be lying in the narrow tomb,
Mouldering in cold decay.
Bring flowers, fresh flowers, that I may cheer my heart
With pleasant images, ere I depart
To tread the grave's dark way.

Bring fruits, rich fruits, that blush on every bough
Bending above the traveller's weary brow,
And wooing him to taste;
Bring fruits; methinks I never knew how sweet
The joys that every day our senses greet,
Till now, in life's swift waste.

Bring fruits, rich fruits; earth's fairest gifts are vain
To minister relief to the dull pain
That steals upon my heart.
Yet bring me fruits and flowers; they still have power
To cheer, if not prolong life's little hour;
Bring flowers ere I depart.





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