Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1822.pdf/97

Manmadin, the Indian Cupid, floating down the Ganges.

Grasping in his infant hand Arrows in their silken band, Each made of a signal flower, Emblem of its varied power; Some formed of the silver leaf Of the almond, bright and brief, Just a frail and lovely thing, For but one hour's flourishing; Others, on whose shaft there glows The red beauty of the rose; Some in spring's half-folded bloom, Some in summer's full perfume; Some with withered leaves and sere, Falling with the falling year; Some bright with the rainbow-dyes Of the tulip's vanities; Some, bound with the lily's bell, Breathe of love, that dares not tell Its sweet feelings; the dark leaves Of the ocynum, which grieves Droopingly, round some were bound; Others were with tendrils wound Of the green and laughing vine,— And the barb was dipp'd in wine. But all these are summer ills, Like the tree whose stem distils Balm beneath its pleasant shade In the wounds its thorns have made. Though the flowers may fade and die, 'Tis but a light penalty. All these bloom-clad darts are meant But for a short-lived content!— Yet one arrow has a power Lasting till life's latest hour—