19 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
O’erturn in sport their ruddy brims, and pour 
A sudden shower upon the strawberry plant, 
To swell the reddening fruit that even now 
Breathes a slight fragrance from the sunny slope. 
But thou art of a gayer fancy. Well — 
Let then the gentle Manitou of flowers, 
Lingering amid the bloomy waste he loves, 
Though all his swarthy worshippers are gone — 
Slender and small, his rounded cheek all brown 
And ruddy with the sunshine ; let him come 
On summer mornings when the blossoms wake, 
And part with little hands the spiky grass ; 
And touching, with his cherry lips, the edge 
Of these bright beakers, drain the gathered dew. 
FLOWERS. 
MRS. SIGOURNEY. 
I ’ll tell thee a story, sweet, 
Here, under this shady tree, 
If thou’It keep it safe in thy faithful breast, 
I ’ll whisper the whole to thee. 
I had a lover, once, 
In my early, sunny hours, 
A fair and fanciful youth was he, 
And he told his love in flowers. 
