116 
TIIE 10ETRY OF FLC WERS. 
TO THE SUNFLOWER. 
Pride of the garden, the beauteous, the reg&i, 
The crown’d with a diadem burning in gold; 
Sultan of flowers, as the strong-pinion’d eagle £ 
And lord of the forest their wide empire hold. 
Let the Rose boast her fragrance, the soft gales 
perfuming, 
The Tulip unfold all her fair hues to me: 
Yet though sweet be their perfume, their rainbow 
dyes blooming, 
I turn, noble Sunflower, with more love to thee. 
There are some think thy stateliness haughty, dis¬ 
daining,— 
Thy heaven-seeking gaze has no charm for 
their eyes; 
'Tis because the pure spirit within thee that’s 
reigning 
Exalts thee above the vain pleasures they prize, 
Emblem of constancy, whilst he is beaming, 
For whom is thy passion so steadfast, so true; 
May we, who of faith and of love are aye dreaming. 1 
Be taught to remember this lesson by you! 
if on earth, like the Sunflower, our soul’s best 
devotion 
