Love's Emblem

Go rose, my Chloe's bosom grace:      How happy should I prove,      Could I supply that envied place      With never-fading love.      Accept, dear maid, now Summer glows,      This pure, unsullied gem,      Love's emblem in a full-blown rose,      Just broken from the stem.      Accept it as a favourite flower      For thy soft breast to wear;      'Twill blossom there its transient hour,      A favourite of the fair.      Upon thy cheek its blossom glows,      As from a mirror clear,      Making thyself a living rose,      In blossom all the year.      It is a sweet and favourite flower      To grace a maiden's brow,      Emblem of love without its power--      A sweeter rose art thou.      The rose, like hues of insect wing,      May perish in an hour;      'T is but at best a fading thing,      But thou'rt a living flower.      The roses steeped in morning dews      Would every eye enthrall,      But woman, she alone subdues;      Her beauty conquers all.