12 A REMINDER TO PLANT TO HELP 



"Ah! there's the lily, marble pale, 

 The bonny broom, the cistus frail; 

 The rich sweet pea, the Iris blue, 

 The larkspur with its peacock hue; 

 All these are fair, yet hold I will 

 That the Rose of May is fairer still." 



Mary Howitt: Rose of May. 



"In their gowns of crinkled silk, 



Golden-banded, ranked in order, . 



Brilliant as the sunset fire is, 

 Black as bull's blood, white as milk. 

 Stand within our garden border 

 Troops of Iris." 



Susan 0. Moberly: Japan Iris. 



"Then in the valley, where the brook went by, 

 Silvering the ledges that it rippled from 

 An isolated slip of fallen sky 

 Epitomizing heaven in its sum 

 An Iris bloomed blue, as if flower-disguised 



The gaze of Spring had there materialized. 



* * * * 



But most of all, yea, it were well for me, 

 Me and my heart, that I forget that flower, 

 The blue wild Iris, azure Fleur-de-lis, 

 That she and I together found that hour. 

 Its recollection can but emphasize 

 The pain of loss, remindful of her eves." 

 Cawein: The Wild Iris. 



"But no bobolink of mine, 

 Ever sang o'er mead so fine, 

 Starred with flames of every hue, 

 Gold and purple, white and blue; 

 Painted-cup, anemone, 

 Jacob's ladder, Fleur-de-lis 



John Burroughs: Lapland Long spur. 



"Oh beautiful! beautiful flower! 

 The ward of the sunbeam and shower 

 In garments of woven delight, 

 Of the sunset, Aurora and light. 

 While over thy beauty there plays 

 Such blending of color and shade, 

 Such delicate tinting and rays, 



