Dandelion, The
Bless thee, darling Dandelion
Forward in the bladed field
Thrust, as if a starry shield
Fit for the bright arm of Orion;
Bless thee, tropic wealth of gold,
Sowing our hills of wind and cold!
Memories of early childhood
Flock like bees around thy heart,
Their own instincts their sole chart
Over the green plains and the wildwood, –
Happy memories all, through tears
Blinded some in their passing years.
And the thoughts which in them center
Gather more sweets than thy bees,
While the dust of hopes’ decrease,
Clinging to their wings as they enter,
Is sown far, to re-crease
Brighter bloom than their first estate.
Then like thee it lay in sunlight
And the shower alike, unhurt;
Like thee, if in darkness girt,
Fed my spirit upon its own light,
Folded in to its clear deep,
Though by my sobbing, rocked asleep.
If I twine[?] thy stem so slender,
How life threads curled back, and prest
Round thy rich heart’s verdant vest!
So our sympathies warm and tender,
Wounded, to their home re-fly,
Withering there till the torn heart die!
Craesus of the vernal Flora,
How thy aureate treasures pale
Every bloom of hill and vale,
Till the proudest of them all might borrow
Of thy regal stores profuse,
Making them richer for the use.
Streams thy golden lips are bent to,
Banks thy yellow glory lines,
Are my right Peruvian mines,
Are my fortunate Sacramento;
There I walk secure from dread,
King of a wealth uncoveted.
Sooth, thou art no less a Solon
Than a Craesus, royal Flower!
Mindful in thy glory’s hour
Of the darkness that shall roll on;
Winging well thy new life’s germ
When thy full bloom fades to its term.
Half the glory, half the science
Of thy little life, would be
Wealth and wit enough for me,
So to bid life and death defiance,
Making storms that tear my heart
Scatter to sow its vital part.
- Title
- Dandelion, The
- Alternative Title
- Bless thee, darling Dandelion
- Spatial Coverage
- Hartford Republican
- Bibliographic Citation
- not yet discovered; name of publication is Hartford Republican
- George S. Burleigh Papers, 1825-1902. John Hay Library, Brown University. Large Scrapbook 331
- Media
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The Dandelion
Part of Dandelion, The