BUTTERCUP, POPPY, FORGET-MENOT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2103, 14 June 1894, Page 45

BUTTERCUP, POPPY, FORGET-ME-NOT.

Buttercup, 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 or shadow, summer or 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 Bong ; Then, stealing along on misty gleams, Poppy came, bringing the sweetest dreams. Playing and dreaming, that was all, Till once the sleeper would not wake ; Kissing the little face under the pall, We thought of the words the third iiower spake. And we found, betimes, in a hallosved spot The solace and peace of forget-me-not.

Buttercup shareth the joy of day, Glinting with gold the hours of play ; Bringetn the poppy sweet repose, When the hands would fold and tho eyes would close. And after it all — the play and the sleep Of a little life— what cometh then? To the hearts that ache and the eyes that weep, A wee flower bringeth God's peace again. Each one serveth its tender lotButtercup, poppy, forget-me-not. — Eugene Field.