The Sleeping Flowers

"Whose are the little beds," I asked,

"Which in the valleys lie?"

Some shook their heads, and others smiled,

And no one made reply.

"Perhaps they did not hear," I said;

"I will inquire again.

Whose are the beds, the tiny beds

So thick upon the plain?"

" 'Tis daisy in the shortest;

A little farther on,

Nearest the door to wake the first,

Little leontodon.

" 'Tis iris, sir, and aster,

Anemone and bell,

Batschia in the blanket red,

And chubby daffodil."

Meanwhile at many cradles

Her busy foot she plied,

Humming the quaintest lullaby

That ever rocked a child.

"Hush! Epigea wakens!

The crocus stirs her lids,

Rhodora's cheek is crimson,

She's dreaming of the woods."

Then, turning from them, reverent,

"Their bed-time 'tis," she said;

"The bumble-bees will wake them

When April woods are red."