Poems : patriotic, religious, miscellaneous / by Abram J. Ryan [electronic text]

DEATH OF THE FLOWER.

I love my mother, the wildwood, I sleep upon her breast; A day or two of childhood, And then I sink to rest.

I had once a lovely sister — She was cradled by my side; But one Summer day I missed her — She had gone to deck a bride.

And I had another sister, With cheeks all bright with bloom; And another morn I missed her — She had gone to wreathe a tomb.

And they told me they had withered, On the bride's brow and the grave; Half an hour, and all their fragrance Died away, which heaven gave.

Two sweet-faced girls came walking Thro' my lonely home one day, And I overheard them talking Of an altar on their way.

They were culling flowers around me, And I said a little prayer To go with them — and they found me — And upon an altar fair,

Where the Eucharist was lying On its mystical death-bed, I felt myself a-dying, While the Mass was being said.

But I lived a little longer, And I prayed there all the day, Till the evening Benediction, When my poor life passed away.