Henry Lynden Flash (1835?–1914)

’T WOULD seem the Fairies, to excite surprise

Among us mortals, had endowed Adele

With baby-sprites that frolicked in her eyes,

As erst they did upon some lily-bell:

So gay and arch the lovely maiden seems,

My heart recalls the creature of its dreams

In days that now are past,—the long-ago,

When in my sleep I saw her, graceful, play

Among the violets and roses gay,

In flowery vales where now the thistles grow.

The beauty of my dreams has come again,

And Joy is ringing out pale Sorrow’s knell,—

The chimes are echoed in this simple strain;

Wilt thou accept it, beautiful Adele?