18 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
THE PAINTED CUP.* 
WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 
The fresh savannahs of the Sangamore 
Here rise in gentle swells, and the long grass 
Is mixed with rustling hazels. Scarlet tufts 
Are glowing in the green, like flakes of fire ; 
The wanderers of the prairie know them well, 
And call that brilliant flower the painted cup. 
Now if thou art a poet, tell me not 
That these bright chalices were tinted thus 
To hold the dew for fairies, when they meet 
On moonlight evenings in the hazel bowers, 
And dance till they are thirsty. Call not up, 
Amid thy fresh and virgin solitude, 
The faded fancies of an elder world, 
But leave these scarlet cups to spotted moths 
Of June, and glistening flies, and humming-birds, 
To drink from, when on all these boundless lawns 
The morning sun looks hot. Or let the wind 
* The Painted Cup or Euchroma Coccinea of Nuttall, is known more 
generally as the Bartsia Coccinea of Linnaeus, and in botanical lan¬ 
guage, is described thus : Leaves alternate, linear, cut pinnatifid, with 
linear segments, bractes dilated, mostly three cleft larger than the 
flowers, calyx teeth obtuse- Should our reader prefer a poetical descrip¬ 
tion, in addition to the beautiful lines we give, we would remind them 
of J. N. Barker’s fanciful thought, 
“ Harlequin Bartsia, in his painted vest 
Of green and crimson.” 
L- H, 
