Hail earliest of the opening flowers! <br />Fair Harbinger of vernal hours! <br />Who dar'st unveil each silken fold <br />Ere Sol dispels the wintry cold, <br />And with thy silver leaves display'd <br />Spread lustre through the dreary glade.— <br />What though no frgarance like the rose <br />Tincturing the Zephyr as it blows, <br />Thy humble flowers from earth exhale <br />To scent the pinions of the gale; <br />What though no hues of gaudy dye <br />Strike with their dazzling charms the eye, <br />Nor does thy sober foliage shew <br />Each blended tint of Iris' bow; <br />Yet in thy meek unsullied grace <br />Imagination's eye shall trace <br />The glowing blossoms that appear <br />Proudly to paint the vernal year, <br />And smiling Maia's blushing dyes, <br />And jocund Summer's cloudless skies, <br />And Autumn's labors which succeed <br />To bid the purple vintage bleed, <br />Our hopes anticipating see <br />Led on in radiant train by thee.<br /><br />Henry James Pye<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-snow-drop/
