Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Mary EmilyBradley647 A Spray of Honeysuckle
I
Thick-set with little golden horns,
Half bud, half blossom, and a gem—
Such as one finds in autumn morns
When all the grass with dew is strung—
On every fairy bugle hung.
Where no light shone, and so forgot
Its delicate, dewy, flowering grace,
Till presently from the dark spot
A charming sense of sweetness came,
That woke an answering sense of shame.
A lesson for thee plain to read:
Thou needest not that light should shine,
Or fellow-men thy virtues heed:
Enough—if haply this be so—
That thou hast sweetness to bestow!