116 
THE MIGNONETTE. 
ILLUSTRATION OF THE SENTIMENT. 
I WOULD that thou might’st ever he 
As beautiful as now ; 
That time might ever leave as free 
Thy yet unwritten brow. 
I would life were all poetry, 
To gentle measures set, 
That nought but chasten’d melody 
Might dim thine eye of jet. 
I fear thy gentle loveliness, 
Thy witching tone and air, 
And thine eyes’ beseeching earnestness, 
May be to thee a snare ; 
For silver stars may purely shine, 
The waters taintless flow, 
But they who kneel at woman’s shrine 
Breathe on it as they bow. 
Ye may fling back the gift again, 
But the crush’d flower will leave a stain. 
Willis. 
