University of Virginia Library


226

THE DANDELION

A thousand poets have sung the Rose,
The daisy white, the heather,
The green grass we lie on
In summer weather ...
Of almost every flower that grows,
But never of the Dandelion,
That the winds of Spring have scattered hither and thither!
Is there any more fair to see
Than this bright fellow
Who, also, “takes the winds of March with beauty”?
True his coat is a vulgar yellow,
And his is a very humble duty . .
Merely to be
As joyous as a wave on the sea,
A wave dancing on the great sea,—
Merely to be bright, sunshiny, glad, strong, and free,
As free as a beggar, as proud as a king!
And so, quite as good as the Rose,
The daisy white, the heather,
The green grass we lie on
In summer weather,
Is that flame of the feet of Spring,
The Dandelion!