Classic Poem

BY THE SAME .

Hail , lovely flower, sweet messenger of spring,
Welcome, fair snowdrop, to the desert plain:
Emblem of spotless innocence and truth!
See with what bashful modesty she blooms,
And droops her head, unconscious of her charms.
Why, lovely flower, art thou forbid to bloom
Upon the bosom of the British fair?
Art thou deserted for the worthless tribe,
That flaunt in grandeur on the gay parterre?
Cold nipping frofts, that thou canst well endure,
Without one stain upon thy spotless leaves,
Would, in an instant wither all their charms,
And blend their boasted beauties with the dust.
So merit lives, neglected by the great.
The scorn of fortune, the contempt of pride,
Yet bears the stroke of adverse fate unhurt.