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Poems MacCarthy, Florence Denis

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274<br />

Placed on thy son's proud heart above<br />

The red rose or the fleur-de-lis?<br />

Yes, from these heights the waters beat,<br />

I vow to press thy cheek once more,<br />

And lie for ever at thy feet,<br />

O shamrock of the Irish shore!<br />

Boulogne-sur-Mer, March 17, 1865.<br />

ITALIAN MYRTLES.<br />

[Suggested by seeing for the first time fire-flies in the myrtle hedges<br />

at Spezzia.]<br />

By many a soft Ligurian bay<br />

The myrtles glisten green and bright,<br />

Gleam with their flowers of snow by day,<br />

And glow with fire-flies through the night,<br />

And yet, despite the cold and heat,<br />

Are ever fresh, and pure, and sweet.<br />

There is an island in the West,<br />

Where living myrtles bloom and blow,<br />

Hearts where the fire-fly Love my rest<br />

Within a paradise of snow--<br />

Which yet, despite the cold and heat,<br />

Are ever fresh, and pure, and sweet.<br />

Deep in that gentle breast of thine--<br />

Like fire and snow within the pearl--<br />

Let purity and love combine,<br />

O warm, pure-hearted Irish girl!<br />

And in the cold and in the heat<br />

Be ever fresh, and pure, and sweet.<br />

Thy bosom bears as pure a snow<br />

As e'er Italia's bowers can boast,<br />

And though no fire-fly lends its glow--<br />

As on the soft Ligurian coast--

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