68 ORPHAN ANNA. 



*' Now from thy mother's lap thou *rt torn ! " 

 The maiden said, and laughed a tear; 



*^ Thou art an orphan, as forlorn 

 "As I, and therefore very dear; 



" We are alike, and likeness gives 



" Of the departed as vi^ho lives ' 



" Such pleasurable thoughts, that we 



" Have not to sigh for whom we see. 



" Ah ! I knew one, that I could name, 



" Whom I was like — and we Ve the same/ 



•' Thy words are sweet," an old seer said, 

 " But, Anna, why forsake the bower ? 



*' Thence thou could'st cull to wreathe thy head, 

 " Or stud thy bosom, any flower — 



" The red, the blue, gold-tipped, and green — 



" Befitting thee as floral queen." 



" Each is too gay," the maiden said, 



" Each has thy care ; the daisy whose ? 

 " Each lifts with pride its burnished head ; 



" Not so the flow'ret which I choose : 

 "And I Ve a reason better still, 



" My pretty daisy, bosom-hidden, 

 " Will fade, but I its place can fill : 



" Why, gather, then, to be forbidden ? 

 '* Besides, good seer, survey around, 



" How thickly studded is the scene — 

 " A million such as mine are found 



" On either hill, or vale between ; 

 " And high above, the azure sky 



" — When lonely night veils darker earth — 

 " Unfolds its daisied canopy, 



" And seems to give niy flowVet birth. 

 " As oft as this I look upon 



** I more and more my daisy prize, 

 " While verdant mead and mid-day sun 



" Renew the picture to my eyes : 

 " Be these my changing choice ; thy care 

 "The rest — gay, beautiful, or fair." 



" O ! hap]:)y Anna," sai^ the seer, 



" The flow'r of choice is where thou 'rt near; 



" Such form the soul's pure galaxy — 



"Tir unfliding garden of the sky." J. R. B. 



