GATHER VIOLETS.

GATHER VIOLETS.

Gather violets white and blue,
  Where the southern zephyrs play;
Bring them sparkling with the dew,—
  With the blessed dew of May.

Let me fold them to my breast,
  Emblems sweet of earthly bliss;
Ha! they love to be caressed,
  For they give me kiss for kiss.

How my weary heart doth yearn,
  Touched as by a hand Divine,
While their soft blue eyes they turn
  Full of sympathy to mine!

Do they know how much I sigh
  For the meadows where they grew?
For the forest and the sky,
  Where they caught their azure hue?

There is One who knows it all,—
  To his loving arms I flee:
Oh, he hears my feeblest call,
  And I know he pities me.

He ere long will take my hand
  Saying tenderly, "Arise!"
He will lead me to the land
  Where no blossom ever dies.