On Receipt Of A Bouquet Poem by Sallie Williams Hardcastle

I thank thee, my friend, for thy delicate gift,
These fair and beautiful flowers,
They come to me now, like a boon from above,
To gladden my pensive hours.

All the brilliant bloom, of the summer days,
These lovely flowers restore;
And my childhood's home, with its fields and flowers,
Comes back to me once more.

How fragile and fair!-some pale, some blushing,
All breathing rarest perfume-
But brighter and fairer they seem, my friend,
Because from thee they come.

I know that this beauty is frail and brief-
That their fragrance and bloom must depart,
But like the mem'ry of thee, these flowers will live
Forever enshrined in my heart.