NATURE STUDY, TEACHER, AND CHILD 47 



strength, are humble and ignored, are walked upon, unnoticed, 

 rarely thought about, and never praised ; they are cut off in 

 early youth by mowing machines ; yet their pain in fading is 

 unreported, their little sufferings unsung. They cling to earth, 

 and never aspire to climb, but they hold the sweetest dew, and 

 nurse the tiniest little winds, imaginable. Their patience is 

 divine. They are proud to be the carpet for all walking, running 

 things, and in their universal service is their strength. The rain 

 stays longer with them than with grander flowers, and the best 

 sunlight goes to sleep among them in great pools of fragrant 

 and delicious heat. . . . They know, it is said, the thoughts of 

 Painted Ladies and Clouded Brimstones, as well as the intentions 

 of the disappearing Golden Flies ; why wind often runs close to 

 the ground when the tree-tops are without a single breath ; but, 

 also, they know what is going on below the surface. They live, 

 moreover, in every country of the globe, and their system of 

 intercommunication is so perfect that even birds and flying things 

 can learn from it. They prove their breeding by their perfect 

 taste in dress, the well-bred ever being inconspicuous ; and 

 their simplicity conceals enormous, undecipherable wonder. One 

 Daisy out of doors is worth a hundred shelves of text-books in 

 the house. . . . Daisies, in a word, are Daisies." 



