Poems By William Walsham How ... New and Enlarged Edition |
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Thrift the Plant.
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108
Thrift the Plant.
(ARMERIA VULGARIS.)
On sandy wastes, ere yet the frugal root
Of tender grass can feed the springing shoot,
Fringing each sterile bank and rocky rift
Green grow the tufted cushions of the Thrift.
Of tender grass can feed the springing shoot,
Fringing each sterile bank and rocky rift
Green grow the tufted cushions of the Thrift.
Thick set with grass-like leaves it nestles there,
A home for statelier herbage to prepare;
And, graceful in its modest duty, robes
The strand with rosy Lilliputian globes.
A home for statelier herbage to prepare;
And, graceful in its modest duty, robes
The strand with rosy Lilliputian globes.
Nor will our dainty flower the task disdain,
Trim order in our gardens to maintain,
Guarding from wanton growth or ruthless tread
The shapely outline of each chequered bed.
Trim order in our gardens to maintain,
Guarding from wanton growth or ruthless tread
The shapely outline of each chequered bed.
Ah, well-named flower! For of a Thrift we sing
Skilled, like thyself, a fertile growth to bring,
In barren wastes with Hope's sweet verdure rife,
The pledge and potency of statelier life!
Skilled, like thyself, a fertile growth to bring,
In barren wastes with Hope's sweet verdure rife,
The pledge and potency of statelier life!
109
Our Thrift shall fertilize the springing blade,
And fence our life-plots with a fairy braid;
'Tis better worth, and comelier beside,
Than that rank Saxifrage called “London Pride!”
And fence our life-plots with a fairy braid;
'Tis better worth, and comelier beside,
Than that rank Saxifrage called “London Pride!”
(1883.)
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