TO THE DANDELION

(Extract)

BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

DEAR common flower, that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May,

Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold, High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they An Eldorado in the grass have found,

Which not the rich earth's ample round

May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.

THE DANDELIONS

BY HELEN GRAY CONE

UPON a showery night and still,
Without a sound of warning,
A trooper band surprised the hill,
And held it in the morning.
We were not waked by bugle-notes,
No cheer our dreams invaded,
And yet, at dawn, their yellow coats
On the green slopes paraded.

We careless folk the deed forgot;
Till one day, idly walking,

We marked upon the self-same spot
A crowd of veterans talking.

They shook their trembling heads and gray
With pride and noiseless laughter;
When, well-a-day! they blew away,

And ne'er were heard of after!

TO A WIND FLOWER

BY MADISON CAWEIN

TEACH me the secret of thy loveliness,

That, being made wise, I may aspire to be As beautiful in thought, and so express Immortal truths to earth's mortality;

Though to my soul ability be less

Than 'tis to thee, O sweet anemone.

Teach me the secret of thy innocence,
That in simplicity I may grow wise,
Asking from Art no other recompense
Than the approval of her own just eyes;

So may I rise to some fair eminence,

Though less than thine, O cousin of the skies.

Teach me these things, through whose high knowl

edge, I

When Death hath poured oblivion through my veins,

And brought me home, as all are brought, to lie

In that vast house, common to serfs and Thanes I shall not die, I shall not utterly die,

For beauty born of beauty that remains.

TO A WITHERED ROSE

BY JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

THY span of life was all too short

A week or two at best

From budding-time, through blossoming,

To withering and rest.

Yet compensation hast thou-aye

For all thy little woes;

For was it not thy happy lot
To live and die a rose?

MARIGOLDS

BY JOHN KEATS

OPEN afresh your round of starry folds,

Ye ardent marigolds!

Dry up the moisture of your golden lids,

For great Appollo bids

That in these days your praises shall be sung

On many harps, which he has lately strung;
And then again your dewiness he kisses -
Tell him I have you in my world of blisses:
So haply when I rove in some far vale,
His mighty voice may come upon the gale.

A HOLLYHOCK

BY FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN

SERAGLIO of the Sultan Bee!

I listen at the waxen door,

And hear the zithern's melody

And sound of dancing on the floor.

WITH A SPRAY OF APPLE BLOSSOMS

BY WALTER LEARNED

THE promise of these fragrant flowers, The fruit that 'neath these blossoms lies Once hung, they say, in Eden's bowers, And tempted Eve in Paradise.

O fairest daughter of Eve's blood,
Lest her misprision thine should be,
I've nipped temptation in the bud
And send this snowy spray to thee.

FOUR-LEAF CLOVER

BY ELLA HIGGINSON

I KNOW a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry blooms burst with snow,
And down underneath is the loveliest nook,
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.

One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith,
And one is for love, you know,

And God put another one in for luck

If you search you will find where they grow.

But you must have hope, and you must have faith,

You must love and be strong

and so

If you work, if you wait, you will find the place

Where the four-leaf clovers grow.

THE GRASS

BY EMILY DICKINSON

THE grass so little has to do—
A spear of simple green,
With only butterflies to brood,
And bees to entertain,

And stir all day to pretty tunes

The breezes fetch along,