Champak Blossoms

Amber petals, ivory petals,
Petals of carven jade,
Charming with your ambrosial sweetness
Forest and field and glade,
Foredoomed in your hour of transient glory
To shrivel and shrink and fade!

Tho’ mango blossoms have long since vanished,
And orange blossoms be shed,
They live anew in the luscious harvests
Of ripening yellow and red;
But you, when your delicate bloom is over,
Will reckon amongst the dead.

Only to girdle a girl’s dark tresses
Your fragrant hearts are uncurled:
Only to garland the vernal breezes
Your fragile stars are unfurled.
You make no boast in your purposeless beauty
To serve or profit the world.

Yet, ’tis of you thro’ the moonlit ages
That maidens and minstrels sing,
And lay your buds on the great god’s altar,
O radiant blossoms that fling
Your rich, voluptuous, magical perfume
To ravish the winds of spring.