Classic Poem

FOUND IN MY EMPORIUM OF LOVE-TOKENS .

Sweet flower, that with thy soft blue eye
Didst once look up in shady spot,
To whisper to the passer-by
Those tender words — Forget-me-not!

Though withered now, thou art to me
The minister of gentle thought, —
And I could weep to gaze on thee,
Love's faded pledge — Forget-me-not!

Thou speak'st of hours when I was young,
And happiness arose unsought;
When she, the whispering woods among,
Gave me thy bloom — Forget-me-not!

That rapturous hour with that dear maid
From memory's page no time shall blot,
When, yielding to my kiss, she said,
" Oh, Theodore — Forget me not! "

Alas for love! alas for truth!
Alas for man's uncertain lot!
Alas for all the hopes of youth
That fade like thee — Forget-me-not!

Alas for that one image fair,
With all my brightest dreams inwrought!
That walks beside me everywhere,
Still whispering — Forget me not!

Oh, Memory! thou art but a sigh
For friendships dead and loves forgot,
And many a cold and altered eye
That once did say — Forget me not!

And I must bow me to thy laws,
For — odd although it may be thought —
I can't tell who the deuce it was
That gave me this Forget-me-not!