BUTTERCUPS. 



" wildings of nature, I dote upon you ; 



For ye waft me to summers of old, 

 When the earth teemed around me with fairy delight, 

 And when daisies and Buttercups gladdened my sight, 



Like treasures of sih^er and gold." 



In the mind of another writer, with whose name we are 

 unacquainted, Buttercups are associated with the pleasures 

 of child-hfe, on their first appearance in spring, — 



" Again I feel my heart is dancing, 

 With wildly-throbbing keen delight. 

 At this bright scene of King-cups dancing 

 Beneath the clear sun's golden light. 



Again I pluck the little flower, 



The first my childhood ever knew, 

 And think upon the place and hour 



Where and when that first one grew ; 



And as 1 gaze upon its cup 



Shining with burnished gold. 

 The faithful memory calls up 



How many a friend beloved of old!" 



And Miss Twamley, when she described her feehngs about 

 flowers in poetry, reveals vivid recollections of her pleasures 

 in them as a child, — 



" Oh! 1 can now recall th' unthrift delight 

 That filled my basket and my tiny hand, 

 With Buttercups that shone in burnished gold," 



and she thought that all children must have the same emo- 

 tions on seeing them, for she calls them — 



"blest childhood's darling, the Buttercup, 

 With bright rays gilt, as its flowers glance up." 



44 



