Flowers

"Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, And daffodillies fill their cups with tears, To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies."

"Immortal amaranth, a flower which once In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life, Began to bloom, but soon for Man's offence, To heav'n remov'd, where first it grew, there grows, And flow'rs aloft shading the fount of life."

"Amaranths such as crown the maids That wander through Zamara's shades."

"I care not for these ladies, That must be wooed and prayed; Give me kind Amaryllis, The wanton country maid. Nature art disdaineth; Her beauty is her own."

"Alas! what boots it with incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? Were it not better done as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair?"

"Where, here and there, on sandy beaches A milky-bell'd amaryllis blew."

"Underneath an apple-tree Sat a maiden and her lover; And the thoughts within her he Yearned, in silence, to discover. Round them danced the sunbeams bright, Green the grass-lawn stretched before them While the apple blossoms white Hung in rich profusion o'er them."

"The apple blossoms' shower of pearl, Though blent with rosier hue, As beautiful as woman's blush, As evanescent too."

"All day in the green, sunny orchard, When May was a marvel of bloom, I followed the busy bee-lovers Down paths that were sweet with perfume."

"Darlings of the forest! Blossoming alone When Earth's grief is sorest For her jewels gone— Ere the last snow-drift melts your tender buds have blown."

"Pure and perfect, sweet arbutus Twines her rosy-tinted wreath."

"The shy little Mayflower weaves her nest, But the south wind sighs o'er the fragrant loam, And betrays the path to her woodland home."

"The ash her purple drops forgivingly And sadly, breaking not the general hush; The maple swamps glow like a sunset sea, Each leaf a ripple with its separate flush; All round the wood's edge creeps the skirting blaze, Of bushes low, as when, on cloudy days, Ere the rain falls, the cautious farmer burns his brush."

"With her ankles sunken in asphodel She wept for the roses of earth which fell."

"By the streams that ever flow, By the fragrant winds that blow O'er the Elysian flow'rs; By those happy souls who dwell In yellow mead of asphodel."

"Chide me not, laborious band! For the idle flowers I brought; Every aster in my hand Goes home loaded with a thought."

"The Autumn wood the aster knows, The empty nest, the wind that grieves, The sunlight breaking thro' the shade, The squirrel chattering overhead, The timid rabbits lighter tread Among the rustling leaves."

"The aster greets us as we pass With her faint smile."

"And in the woods a fragrance rare Of wild azaleas fills the air, And richly tangled overhead We see their blossoms sweet and red."

"The fair azalea bows Beneath its snowy crest."

"Hang-head Bluebell, Bending like Moses' sister over Moses, Full of a secret that thou dar'st not tell!"

"Oh! roses and lilies are fair to see; But the wild bluebell is the flower for me."

"Whence is yonder flower so strangely bright? Would the sunset's last reflected shine Flame so red from that dead flush of light? Dark with passion is its lifted line, Hot, alive, amid the falling night."

"While cassias blossom in the zone of calms."

"For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on the faster it grows."

"Eyes of some men travel far For the finding of a star; Up and down the heavens they go, Men that keep a mighty rout! I'm as great as they, I trow, Since the day I found thee out, Little Flower!—I'll make a stir, Like a sage astronomer."

"Long as there's a sun that sets, Primroses will have their glory; Long as there are violets, They will have a place in story: There's a flower that shall be mine, 'Tis the little Celandine."

"Pleasures newly found are sweet When they lie about our feet: February last, my heart First at sight of thee was glad; All unheard of as thou art, Thou must needs, I think have had, Celandine! and long ago, Praise of which I nothing know."

"The maid of India, blessed again to hold In her full lap the Champac's leaves of gold."

"Fair gift of Friendship! and her ever bright And faultless image! welcome now them art, In thy pure loveliness—thy robes of white, Speaking a moral to the feeling heart; Unscattered by heats—by wintry blasts unmoved— Thy strength thus tested—and thy charms improved."

"Chrysanthemums from gilded argosy Unload their gaudy scentless merchandise."

"Flocks thick-nibbling through the clovered vale."

"Where the wind-rows are spread for the butterfly's bed, And the clover-bloom falleth around."

"Crimson clover I discover By the garden gate, And the bees about her hover, But the robins wait. Sing, robins, sing, Sing a roundelay,— 'Tis the latest flower of Spring Coming with the May!"

"The clover blossoms kiss her feet, She is so sweet, she is so sweet. While I, who may not kiss her hand, Bless all the wild flowers in the land."

"What airs outblown from ferny dells And clover-bloom and sweet brier smells."

"Or columbines, in purple dressed Nod o'er the ground-bird's hidden nest."

"Skirting the rocks at the forest edge With a running flame from ledge to ledge, Or swaying deeper in shadowy glooms, A smoldering fire in her dusky blooms; Bronzed and molded by wind and sun, Maddening, gladdening every one With a gypsy beauty full and fine,— A health to the crimson columbine!"

"O columbine, open your folded wrapper, Where two twin turtle-doves dwell! O cuckoopint, toll me the purple clapper That hangs in your clear green bell!"

"There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue for you."

"I am that flower,—That mint.—That columbine."

"Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from the meadow, See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the magnet; This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has planted Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveller's journey. Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert, Such in the soul of man is faith."

"Smiled like yon knot of cowslips on a cliff."

"Thus I set my printless feet O'er the cowslip's velvet head, That bends not as I tread."

"The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet and green clover."

"The cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their gold coats spots you see: Those be rubies, fairy favours; In those freckles live their savours."

"Yet soon fair Spring shall give another scene. And yellow cowslips gild the level green."

"And wild-scatter'd cowslips bedeck the green dale."

"Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear."

"The nesh yonge coweslip bendethe wyth the dewe."