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158 
FUNERAL FLOWERS. 
LINES. 
BY M. a. BROWNE. 
"Do not pluck the flower?, they are sacred to tne dead.” 
An inscription, similar to the foregoing, is seen in many 
parts of the Roman Catholic Burial Ground, Botanic 
Gardens, Cork. 
Oh ! spare the flowers, the fair young flowers, 
The free glad gift the summer brings ; 
Bright children of the sun and showers, 
Here do they rise, earth’s offerings. 
Rich be the dew upon you shed 
Green be the bough that o’er you waves, 
Weariless watchers by the dead, 
Unblenching dwelle 1 '" ’midst the graves ! 
Oh ! spare the flowers ! their sweet perfume, 
Upon the wandering zephyr cast, 
A.nd lingering o’er the lowly tomb, 
Ts like the memory of the past 
L 
