| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Her Roses | | By Lucia (White) Jennison (“Owen Innsley”) (1850– ) |
| | | AGAINST her mouth she pressed the rose, and there, | |
| ’Neath the caress of lips as soft and red | |
| As its own petals, quick the bright bud spread | |
| And oped, and flung its fragrance on the air. | |
| It ne’er again a bud’s young grace can wear? | 5 |
| O love, regret it not! It gladly shed | |
| Its soul for thee, and though thou kiss it dead | |
| It does not murmur at a fate so fair. | |
| Thus, once, thou breath’dst on me, till every germ | |
| Of love and song broke into rapturous flower, | 10 |
| And sent a challenge upwards to the sky. | |
| What if too swift fruition set a term | |
| Too brief to all things? I have lived my hour, | |
| And die contented, since for thee I die. | | | | |
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