18 GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 



THE PAINTED CUP.* 



WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 



The fresh savannahs of the Sangamore 



Here rise in gentle swells, and the long grass 



Is mixed with rustling hazels. Scarlet tufts 



Are glowing in the green, like flakes of fire ; 



The wanderers of the prairie know them well, 



And call that brilliant flower the painted cup. 



Now if tnou art a poet, tell me not 



That these bright chalices were tinted thus 



To hold the dew for fairies, when they meet 



On moonlight evenings in the hazel bowers, 



And dance till they are thirsty. Call not up. 



Amid thy fresh and virgin solitude. 



The faded fancies of an elder world. 



But leave these scarlet cups to spotted moths 



Of June, and glistening flies, and humming-birds. 



To drink from, when on all these boundless lawns 



The morning sun looks hot. Or let the wind 



* The Painted Cup or Euchroma Coccinea of Nuttall, is known more 

 generally as the Bartsia Coccinea of Linnaeus, and in botanical lan- 

 guage, is described thus : Leaves alternate, linear, cut pinnatifid, with 

 linear segments, bractes dilated, mostly three cleft larger than the 

 flowers, calyx teeth obtuse- Should our reader prefer a poetical descrip- 

 tion, in addition to the beautiful lines we give, we would remind them 

 of J.N. Barker's fanciful thought, 



" Harlequin Bartsia, in his painted vest 

 Of green and crimson." L- H. 



