The Poetry Corner

The Night-Blowing Cereus.

By Thomas Gent

Can it be true, so fragrant and so fair, To give thy perfumes to the dews of night? Can aught so beautiful, despise the glare, And fade, and sicken in the morning light? Yes! peerless flower, the Heavens alone exhale Thy fragrance, while the glittering stars attest, And incense wafted by the midnight gale, Untainted rises from thy spotless breast. How like that Faith whose nature is apart From human gaze, to love and work unseen, Which gives to God an undivided heart, In sorrow steadfast, and in joy serene; That night-flower of the soul, whose fragrant power Breathes on the darkness of the closing hour!