Frame: The Provençal Lady

"Now welcome, fair MARGUERITE, to thee,
Fair flower of Provence minstrelsy."
Came a lovely lady in place,
Like the twilight star in her pensive grace.
White daisies were wreathed in the dark-brown shade
Of her tresses, parted in simple braid:
Her long eyelash was the shadow of night,
And the eye beneath was the morning bright;
For its colour was that of the diamond dew
Which hath caught from the glancing light its hue:
Her cheek was pale, for its blush soon pass'd, —
Loveliest tints are not those which last;
Then again it redden'd, again was gone,
Like a rainbow and rose in unison:
Her smile was sad, as if nature meant
Those lips to live, in their own content;
But Fate pass'd o'er them her stern decree,
And taught them what suffering and sorrow might be:
And sang she in sweet but mournful tone,
As her heart had the misery it painted known.