Madam, the flower that I received from you, <br />Ere I came home, had lost its lovely hue: <br />As flowers deprived of the genial day, <br />Its sprightly bloom did wither and decay; <br />Dear, fading flower, I know full well, said I, <br />The reason why you shed your sweets and die; <br />You want the influence of her enlivening eye. <br />Your case is mine -- Absence, that plague of love! <br />With heavy pace makes every minute move: <br />It of my being is an empty blank, <br />And hinders me myself with men to rank; <br />Your cheering presence quickeneth me again, <br />And new-sprung life exults in every vein.<br /><br />James Thomson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/verses-on-receiving-a-flower-from-his-mistress/
