Love

To Miss Hoyland ("Count all the flowers")

by Thomas Chatterton 1752–1770

From Poetical Works, ed. Skeat (1875)

Love

Count all the flowers that deck the meadow's side,
When Flora flourishes in new-born pride;
Count all the sparkling orbits in the sky;
Count all the birds that through the aether fly;
Count all the foliage of the lofty trees,
That fly before the bleak autumnal breeze;
Count all the dewy blades of verdant grass;
Count all the drops of rain that softly pass
Through the blue aether, or tempestuous roar:
Count all the sands upon the breaking shore;
Count all the minutes since the world began;
Count all the troubles of the life of man;
Count all the torments of the d—d in hell; —
More are the beauteous charms that make my nymph excel.

MLA

Chatterton, Thomas. “To Miss Hoyland ("Count all the flowers").” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chatterton/41/.

Chicago

Chatterton, Thomas. “To Miss Hoyland ("Count all the flowers").” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chatterton/41/.

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