"Darkeyes are dearer far
Than those that mock the hyacinthine bell;"
                By J. H. Reynolds
                Feb. 1818


Blue!—Tis the life of heaven,—the domain
Of Cynthia,—the wide palace of the sun,—
the tent of Hesperus and all his train,—
The bosomer of clouds, gold, grey, and dun.
Blue!—'Tis the life of waters—Ocean,
And all its vassal streams, pools numberless,
May rag, and foam, and fret, but never can
Subside, if not to dark blue nativeness.
Blue!—Gentle cousin of the forest green,
Married to green in all the sweetest flowers—
Forget-me,—the blue-bell,—and, that queen
Of secrecy, the violet:—what strange powers
Hast thou, as a mere shadow?—But how great,
When in an eye thou art alive with fate!