I do thank thee, lovely lady,
For these bright and fragrant flowers;
O! how sweetly such mementos
Lend their charms to lonely hours!
Here are roses, freshly blooming,
Free from blight, and free from stain;
Time will mar their brilliant beauty,
But their fragrance will remain.
So, when time shall part us, lady,
Though I view thy charms no more,
Think not mem’ry will forsake me,
Nor thy smiles to me restore.
When my roses all have faded,
When life’s flowers are pale and dead,
When my spring has changed to winter,
When its frosts are on my head;
Like an evergreen shall flourish
All my memory of thee,
Or like roses, freshly blooming;
Shall these hours return to me.
Love me, lady, gentle lady,
All unworthy though I be;
’Twill be sweet to think hereafter
I was once beloved by THEE.
MCPHERSONVILLE, April 22, 1841.