10 A REMINDER TO PLANT TO HELP 



Thou art the Iris, fair among the fairest, 



Who, armed with golden rod 

 And winged with the celestial azure, bearest 



The message of some God. 



Thou art the Muse, who far from crowded cities 



Hauntest the sylvan streams, 

 Playing on pipes of reed the artless ditties, 



That come to us as dreams. 



O Flower-de-Luce, bloom on, and let the river 



Linger to kiss thy feet! 

 O flower of song, bloom on, and make forever 



The world more fair and sweet." 



Longfellow: Flower-de-Luce. 



"When thou was full in spring, thou little sleepy thing, 

 The Yellow Flags that broider'd thee would stand 

 Up to their chins in water, and full oft 

 We pulled them and the other shining flowers, 

 That are all gone today." 



Jean Ingelow: Song of Night Watches. 



"The mellow moonlight, through the deep-blue gloom, 

 Did all along the dreamy chamber pass, 

 As though it were a little touched with awe 

 Of that pale lady, and what else it saw 



Rare flowers: narcissi; Irises, each crowned; 



* * * * 



All pinnacled in urns of carven bronze." 

 Lord Lytton: A Vision. 



"We drifted down, my love and I, 

 Beneath an azure April sky, 

 My Love and I, my Love and I, 

 Just at the hour of noon. 



* * * * 



While purple, cool, beneath the blue 



Of that hot noontide, bravely smiled, 

 With bright and iridescent hue, 

 Whole acres of the Blue Flag flower, 



The breathy Iris sweet and wild, 

 That floral savage unsubdued, 



The gipsy April's gipsy child." 



Mary A. Townsend: Down the Bayou. 



