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TIGER-LILIES. 



I like not lady-slippers, 



Nor yet the sweet-pea blossoms, 



Nor yet the flaky roses, 



Red, or white as snow; 

 I like the chaliced lilies, 

 The heavy Eastern lilies. 

 The gorgeous tiger-lilies, 



That in our gardens grow. 



For they are tall and slender ; 



Their mouths are dashed with carmine ; 



And when the wind sweeps by them, 



On their emerald stalks 

 They bend so proud and graceful — 

 They are Circassian women. 

 The favorites of the Sultan, 



Adown our garden walks ! 



And when the rain is falling, 



I sit beside the window 



And watch them glow and glisten, 



How they burn and glow ! 

 O, for the burning lilies, 

 The tender Eastern lilies, 

 The gorgeous tiger-lilies. 



That in our garden grow ! 



Thomas Bailey Aldrich. 



FLOWERS IN THE CRANNIED WALL. 



Flower in the crannied wall, 

 I pluck you out of the crannies ; 

 Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, 

 Little flower — but if I could understand 

 What you are, root and all, and all in all, 

 I should know what God and man is. 

 Alfred Tennyson. 



