 | The Comrades |  |
190
Flower Fancies
Ere blossom time had yet begun,
When grass scarce hid the brown earth's leanness,
And fagot hedgerows in the sun
Were slowly kindling into greenness,
When grass scarce hid the brown earth's leanness,
And fagot hedgerows in the sun
Were slowly kindling into greenness,
I met a maiden, small and fair,
Along the cheerless highway bringing
Such flowery boughs as mortal ne'er
Hath seen from earthly tree-trunk springing.
Along the cheerless highway bringing
Such flowery boughs as mortal ne'er
Hath seen from earthly tree-trunk springing.
Too eager to await the pledge
Of skies so fickle, trees so lazy,
She had broken thorn-sticks from the hedge,
And tipped each prickle with a daisy.
Of skies so fickle, trees so lazy,
She had broken thorn-sticks from the hedge,
And tipped each prickle with a daisy.
191
Oh, little maid, whose pretty skill
Turns March to May so well and quickly,
Teach me thy craft!—my wayward will
Hath made life's very daisies prickly.
Turns March to May so well and quickly,
Teach me thy craft!—my wayward will
Hath made life's very daisies prickly.
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