GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 19 



erturn in sport their ruddy brims, and pour 

 A sudden shower upon the strawberry plant, 

 To swell the reddening fruit that even now 

 Breathes a slight fragrance from the sunny slope 

 But thou art of a gayer fancy. Well — 

 Let then the gentle Manitou of flowers. 

 Lingering amid the bloomy waste he loves. 

 Though all his swarthy worshippers are gone — 

 Slender and small, his rounded cheek all brown 

 And ruddy with the sunshine ; let him come 

 On summer mornings when the blossoms wake, 

 And part with little hands the spiky grass j 

 And touching, with his cherry lips, the edge 

 Of these bright beakers, drain the gathered dew. 



FLOWERS. 



MRS. SIGOURNEY. 



I 'll tell thee a story, sweet, 



Here, under this shady tree. 

 If thou 'It keep it safe in thy faithful breast, 



I '11 whisper the whole to thee. 



I had a lover, once. 



In my early, sunny hours, 

 A fair and fanciful youth was he, 



And he told his love in flowers. 



