BUTTERCUP AND POPPY 215 



BUTTERCUP, POPPY, FORGET-ME-NOT 1 



BUTTERCUP, Poppy, Forget-me-not 

 These three bloomed in a garden spot ; 

 And once, all merry with song and play, 

 A little one heard three voices say : 



" Shine and shadow, summer and spring, 

 O thou child with the tangled hair 

 And laughing eyes ! we three shall bring 



Each an offering passing fair." 

 The little one did not understand, 

 But they bent and kissed the dimpled hand. 



Buttercup gambolled all day long, 

 Sharing the little one's mirth and song; 

 Then, stealing along on misty gleams, 

 Poppy came bearing the sweetest dreams. 

 Praying and dreaming and that was all 

 Till once a sleeper would not awake ; 

 Kissing the little face under the pall, 



We thought of the words the third flower 



spake ; 



And we found betimes in a hallowed spot 

 The solace and peace of Forget-me-not. 



Buttercup shareth the joy of day, 

 Glinting with gold the hours of play ; 

 Bringeth the Poppy sweet repose, 

 When the hands would fold and the eyes would 

 close ; 



1 From With Trumpet and Drum; copyright, 1892, by 

 Mary French Field ; published by Charles Scribner's Sons. 



