42 
THE WHITE LILY. 
she is therefore a fit emblem of purity and 
beauty. 
ILLUSTRATION OF THE SENTIMENT. 
I SAW a dew-drop, cool and clear. 
Dance on a myrtle spray; 
Fair colours deck’d the lucid tear, 
Like those which gleam and disappear. 
When flowers and sunbeams play;— 
Sol cast athwart a glance severe, 
And scorch’d the pearl away. 
High on a slender polish’d stem 
A fragrant Lily grew; 
On the pure petals many a gem 
Glitter’d a native diadem 
Of healthy morning dew;— 
A blast of lingering winter came. 
And snapp’d the stem in two. 
Fairer than morning’s early tear, 
Or Lily’s snowy bloom. 
Shines beauty, in its vernal year, 
Bright, sparkling, fascinating, clear. 
Gay, thoughtless of its doom !— 
Death breathes a sudden poison near, 
And sweeps it to the tomb ! 
Ann Taylok. 
