 | The white dove, and Other Poems for Children |  |
21
Grasses.
Do you love the humble grasses?
Such grasses as we see
By the wayside, in the meadow,
Growing profuse and free.
Such grasses as we see
By the wayside, in the meadow,
Growing profuse and free.
Nourished by dew and sunshine,
And genial summer rain;
And waving in the autumn,
Among the fields of grain.
And genial summer rain;
And waving in the autumn,
Among the fields of grain.
They are lovely in the spring time,
In their rich and living green;
And dainty fair in summer,
When their tiny bloom is seen.
In their rich and living green;
And dainty fair in summer,
When their tiny bloom is seen.
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The rich warm days of summer!
When every breath of air,
Is scented with their soft perfume,
So delicate and rare.
When every breath of air,
Is scented with their soft perfume,
So delicate and rare.
And in the bright clear autumn,
When their various colored seeds,
Give the warmth of sunset shadows,
To the stubble fields and meads.
When their various colored seeds,
Give the warmth of sunset shadows,
To the stubble fields and meads.
How gracefully they bow and bend;
How finely soft they shade
The sharper outlines into grace,
Of distant hill and glade.
How finely soft they shade
The sharper outlines into grace,
Of distant hill and glade.
There is one kind standing straightly,
With sharp and lance-shaped head;
Some, with a tinge of purple,
Some, with a shade of red.
With sharp and lance-shaped head;
Some, with a tinge of purple,
Some, with a shade of red.
Some have soft little downy tufts,
Some sharp and pin-like spines;
Some stand as straight as arrows,
Some bend in waving lines.
Some sharp and pin-like spines;
Some stand as straight as arrows,
Some bend in waving lines.
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And one suspends its glossy seeds,
On slender hair-like stem,
Which yet require the winter storm,
To break and scatter them.
On slender hair-like stem,
Which yet require the winter storm,
To break and scatter them.
The tawny rush by marshy streams,
Scatters its countless seeds,
Where, waving like a field of maize,
Grow tall and graceful reeds.
Scatters its countless seeds,
Where, waving like a field of maize,
Grow tall and graceful reeds.
One grows among the fields of wheat,
A pale, green plume of down;
Another rears a shiny cone,
With seeds of purply brown.
A pale, green plume of down;
Another rears a shiny cone,
With seeds of purply brown.
There is orchard-grass, and herd-grass,
And white, sweet scented clover;
And meadow-grass, and spear-grass—
'Tis vain to name them over.
And white, sweet scented clover;
And meadow-grass, and spear-grass—
'Tis vain to name them over.
Go out beneath the sunshine,
Examine blade and stem;
Observe them how they thrive and grow,
“Where no man planted them.”
Examine blade and stem;
Observe them how they thrive and grow,
“Where no man planted them.”
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