| Samuel Kettell, ed. Specimens of American Poetry. 1829. | | | | On Revisiting the Cottage of Rosa in Early Spring, after a Long Absence | | By Anthony Bleecker (1770–1827) |
| | | SEVEN summers have flown, and once more do I see | |
| The fields and the groves I deserted so long: | |
| Scarce a bud yet appears on the winter-beat tree, | |
| Nor a bird yet enlivens the sky with a song. | |
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| For though spring has returned, yet the chilly wind blows, | 5 |
| And the violets and daisies still hide in the ground; | |
| But one dear little flower, one beautiful Rose, | |
| Here blooms and here blushes the seasons all round. | |
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| Thou pride of the plain, little queen of the grove, | |
| Still fresh is thy foliage and sweet thy perfume, | 10 |
| And still the bright object of Paridel’s love, | |
| As when thy first buds were beginning to bloom. | |
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| And though fate has decreed that he must not aspire | |
| This blossom divine on his bosom to wear, | |
| Yet still must he cherish the tender desire, | 15 |
| And make thee forever the theme of his prayer. | |
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| Blow gently, ye zephyrs, be genial, ye showers, | |
| Bright and warm be the sky o’er thy dear native vale, | |
| And may no bitter blast ever ravage the bowers | |
| That guard thy fair frame from the merciless gale. | 20 |
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| And when the short season of blooming shall end, | |
| Which fate to the children of nature hath given, | |
| May some cherub of beauty, to snatch thee, descend, | |
| And bear thee to bloom in the gardens of heaven. | | | | |
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