68 



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. 



F LOWERS 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. 



