Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WATER LILY, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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THE WATER LILY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! Beautiful thou art
Last Line: As from a shrine.
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Flowers; Lilies


OH! beautiful thou art,
Thou sculpture-like and stately river-queen!
Crowning the depths, as with the light serene
Of a pure heart.

Bright lily of the wave!
Rising in fearless grace with every swell,
Thou seem'st as if a spirit meekly brave
Dwelt in thy cell:

Lifting alike thy head
Of placid beauty, feminine yet free,
Whether with foam or pictured azure spread
The waters be.

What is like thee, fair flower,
The gentle and the firm! thus bearing up
To the blue sky that alabaster cup,
As to the shower?

Oh! love is most like thee,
The love of woman! quivering to the blast
Through every nerve, yet rooted deep and fast,
Midst life's dark sea.

And faith -- oh, is not faith
Like thee, too, lily! springing into light,
Still buoyantly, above the billows' might,
Through the storm's breath?

Yes! linked with such high thought,
Flower! let thine image in my bosom lie;
Till something there of its own purity
And peace be wrought --

Something yet more divine
Than the clear, pearly, virgin lustre shed
Forth from thy breast upon the river's bed,
As from a shrine.





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