Classic Poem

A flower, a welcome flower, I bring
With drops of diamond bright;
See, how the first moss-rose of spring
Blooms for the ball to-night.

A fairy nursed the bud for you,
And warded off the blight;
And cherished it with heavenly dew,
For your first ball to-night.

But she who takes the rose, must wear
A dress of simple white;
And fix it single in her hair,
To charm the ball to-night.

To rivals, she must use a tone
Of calm and civil slight;
And on the giver smile alone,
At her first ball to-night.