See the purple vetches climb
Through the lush green grasses;
Hear the bluebell's fairy chime
As the light wind passes;
The poppy, like a scarlet flame,
By snowy starwort blazes;
The buttercup its golden head
By rosy campion raises;
The bramble in its lavish bloom
A fruitful future pledges;
The elder's glossy berries droop
O'er the autumn hedges.
The bindweed flings her graceful wreath
Where soft green nuts are darkening;
The fern-leaves bow their lovely fronds,
The thrushes' gurgle hearkening;
There the tall campanula
Its lilac bloom is showing;
Subtle fragrance tells us where
The purple clover's blowing;
Soft and hoar, the briony
Hangs from rocky ledges,
Where tansy's rugged royalty
Rules the autumn hedges.
The lordly foxgloves, side by side,
Guard the creeping mosses;
The thistle to the wooing air
Its thorny circlets tosses;
The crowsfoot glitters like a gem
Where golden-rod waves thickest.
Where the orchis studs the green,
Where moneywort runs quickest;
The rush-flower and the yellow flag
Bloom amid the sedges.
Where the bonny becks dance down
By the autumn hedges.
With a beauty all his own
Reigns winter, keen and hoary;
Sweet the springtide's vivid smile.
Sweet the summer's glory;
But the autumn's bounteous hand.
In the cloudless weather.
Brings flower, fruit, and harvest-home
To the world together.
So lovely dreams, bard-born in May,
A brooding fancy fledges
To life as lavish, rich, and bright
As glows in autumn hedges.
