FLOWERS to the fair : To you these flowers I bring, <br />And strive to greet you with an earlier spring. <br />Flowers sweet, and gay, and delicate like you ; <br />Emblems of innocence, and beauty too. <br />With flowers the Graces bind their yellow hair, <br />And flowery wreaths consenting lovers wear. <br /> <br />Flowers, the sole luxury which nature knew, <br />In Eden's pure and guiltlese garden grew. <br />To loftier forms are rougher tasks assign'd ; <br />The sheltering oak resists the stormy wind, <br />The tougher yew repels invading foes, <br />And the tall pine for future navies grows ; <br />But this soft family, to cares unknown, <br />Were born for pleasure and delight alone. <br />Gay without toil, and lovely without art, <br />They spring to cheer the sense, and glad the heart. <br />Nor blush, my fair, to own you copy these ; <br />Your best, your sweetest empire is---to please.<br /><br />Anna Laetitia Barbauld<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-a-lady-7/
