POETRY.

Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 11, 19 October 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

POETRY.

THE FORGET-ME-NOT. (From the German of Muchler.) Silent o’er the fountain gleaming, In the silvery moonlight hour, Bright and beauteous in its seeming, Waves a friendly fragile flower. Blue—as heaven’s own blessed eye, Never let it be mistaken ; By no envious clouds o’ertaken When it laughs through all the sky. Flower of heaven’s divinest hue ! Symbol of affection true ! Whisper to the poor heart-broken Consolation—heaven-spoken ! Loved one !—like the star of morning Are thine eyes —so mild and fair— Inocence with light adorning Their pure radiance everywhere ! Maiden mine ! attend my lay: Be this flow’ret ne’er forgot— Whispering through the far-away “ Oh, forget—forget me not.” Duty stem may bid us sever, Tears bedew our parted lot; Yet these flowers shall murmur ever, ** Ah, forget—forget me not !” List, beloved ! what it sayeth ; List each blossom’s whispered sound ! As its lowly head it layeth On the dew-besprinkled ground. Bethink ! each dewdrop is a tear, That brims its dark blue eyes ; Remember— when you wander near—- “ Forget me not” it sighs ! (The exquisite German legend of the origin of this humble flower’s touching name, is known to many—perhaps not to all. A lover and his mistress were walking on the steep banks of a rapid river ; the lady was struck by the beauty of a little flower, new to her, and growing on the sharpest declivity of the almost perpendicular bank. The veronica, according to some, the mouse-ear, as others say, was the plant, to obtain which for his beloved, the young man immediately sprang down the cliff to secure the treasure. At the moment when the prize was won, the earth gave way under the lover’s tread, who, in the act of falling, threw the flowers towards his mistress, uttering the words, “ Forget me not,” and was precipitated into the foaming current, which bore him many miles from the spot of the catastrophe. The body being found, was followed and borne to the grave by his aflianced bride and her companions, arrayed in white, and scattering flowers of the “ forget-me-not ” along their mournful path. This flower is a favorite subject among German p«>ets.)