Page:Field Poems of Childhood.djvu/60



UTTERCUP, Poppy, Forget-me-not—

These three bloomed in a garden spot;

And once, all merry with song and play,

A little one heard three voices say:

"Shine and shadow, summer and spring,

O thou child with the tangled hair

And laughing eyes! we three shall bring

Each an offering passing fair."

The little one did not understand,

But they bent and kissed the dimpled hand.

Buttercup gambolled all day long,

Sharing the little one's mirth and song;

Then, stealing along on misty gleams,

Poppy came bearing the sweetest dreams.

Playing and dreaming—and that was all,

Till once a sleeper would not awake;

Kissing the little face under the pall,

We thought of the words the third flower spake;

And we found betimes in a hallowed spot

The solace and peace of Forget-me-not.