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THE DOUBLE SUNFLOWER.
The sunflowers hung their banners out in the sweet September weather;
A stately company they stood by the garden fence together,
And looked out on the shining sea that bright and brighter grew,
And slowly bowed their golden heads to every wind that blew.
A stately company they stood by the garden fence together,
And looked out on the shining sea that bright and brighter grew,
And slowly bowed their golden heads to every wind that blew.
But the double sunflower bloomed apart, far prouder than the rest,
And by his crown's majestic weight he seemed almost oppressed.
He held himself aloof upon his tall and slender stem,
And gloried in the splendor of his double diadem.
And by his crown's majestic weight he seemed almost oppressed.
He held himself aloof upon his tall and slender stem,
And gloried in the splendor of his double diadem.
All clothed in bells of lovely blue, a morning-glory vine
Could find no friendly stick or stalk about which she might twine;
And prone upon the ground near by, with blossoms red as fire,
A scarlet runner lay for lack of means to clamber higher.
Could find no friendly stick or stalk about which she might twine;
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A scarlet runner lay for lack of means to clamber higher.
They both perceived the sunflower tall who proudly stood aside;
Nothing to them was his grand air of majesty and pride;
With one accord they charged at him, and up his stalk they ran,
And straight to hang their red and blue all over him began.
Nothing to them was his grand air of majesty and pride;
With one accord they charged at him, and up his stalk they ran,
And straight to hang their red and blue all over him began.
Oh, then he was magnificent, all azure, gold, and flame!
But, woe is me! an autumn breeze from out the northwest came;
With all their leaves and flowers the vines about him closely wound,
And with that keen wind's help at once they dragged him to the ground.
But, woe is me! an autumn breeze from out the northwest came;
With all their leaves and flowers the vines about him closely wound,
And with that keen wind's help at once they dragged him to the ground.
I found him there next morning, his pomp completely wrecked,
His prostrate form all gorgeously with tattered blooms bedecked.
“Alas!” I said, “no power on earth your glory can recall!
Did you not know, dear sunflower, that pride must have a fall?”
His prostrate form all gorgeously with tattered blooms bedecked.
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Did you not know, dear sunflower, that pride must have a fall?”
I raised him up and bore him in, and, ere he faded quite,
In the corner he stood splendid a while for our delight;
But his humbler, single brethren, in the garden, every one,
With shining disks and golden rays stayed gazing at the sun.
In the corner he stood splendid a while for our delight;
But his humbler, single brethren, in the garden, every one,
With shining disks and golden rays stayed gazing at the sun.
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