Lady Lilac Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

Her perfume floats upon me in a perfect avalanche ;
' Glory Hallelujah!' shouts the tree toad on the branch.
She whispers to the silent night, that chilly days are

dead,
And the poorest little maiden has a bouquet by her bed.

Ah ! the pretty little maiden, with the early summer

blent,

Wears a bunch of Lady Lilac on her bosom innocent ;
Many blossoms blossom in the summer, spring and fall,
But the long-loved Lady Lilac is the sweetest of them

all.

The lissome Lady Lilac lifts her tall and graceful crest ;
' Glory Hallelujah !' sighs the cat bird in her nest ;
A little maid is dying, her half-starved life is spilt,
But a dozen plumes of lilac hide the old and shabby
quilt.

Her thin and quivering nostrils seek the sweetest of the

bloom,
And she hears an angel fluttering in the silence of the

room ;

She sees, as she is standing on the golden river's edge,
That Heaven is surrounded by a lovely lilac hedge.
Of all the flowers that blossom in the summer time or

fall,
The dainty Lady Lilac is the sweetest of them all.


Barefoot Lady Lilac is in clover to her knees ;
' Glory Hallelujah !' is the chorus of the bees.
The meanest little duffer in all of Christendom
May for a dainty favor to Lady Lilac come.

For she is what was promised us throughout the month

of May-
God is good ! no matter what evil ones may say
Rarer plants may blossom in the rich and castled hall,
But my darling Lady Lilac is the fairest of them all.

Lucky little baby ! that you were born to-day,
' Glory Hallelujah !' I hear the angels say,
For your birthday will be splendid, in the wondrous

years to come ;
You will see the lilacs pluming, you will hear the wild

bees hum.

The splendid Lady Lilac will a birthday present bring ;
You will hear the tree toad joking, you will hear the

cat bird sing ;
Of all the flowers that perfume fling, when June-time

evenings fall,
My sweetheart, Lady Lilac, is the dearest of them all.