Poems (Hoffman)/Berries
BERRIES
Berries! berries! beautiful berries!
Wearing a charm ever pleasing and new;
Daintiest food, fit for elfins and fairies,
Born of the sunshine, the breeze and the dew.
Wearing a charm ever pleasing and new;
Daintiest food, fit for elfins and fairies,
Born of the sunshine, the breeze and the dew.
Drooping in delicate sprays of repleteness;
Nestling in green leaves, half-hidden from sight;
Hanging in rich, juicy globules of sweetness;
Peeping up shyly to drink in the light.
Nestling in green leaves, half-hidden from sight;
Hanging in rich, juicy globules of sweetness;
Peeping up shyly to drink in the light.
Perched on a twig is a saucy, red linnet,
Beak dyed with carmine, betraying his theft;
While birds of all colors, each sunshiny minute
Feast on the beauties his majesty left.
Beak dyed with carmine, betraying his theft;
While birds of all colors, each sunshiny minute
Feast on the beauties his majesty left.
Lazuli-finches and golden canaries,
Hither and thither in ecstasy fly,
Warbling in unison "Berries! ripe berries!"
What ruby wine with their nectar can vie?
Hither and thither in ecstasy fly,
Warbling in unison "Berries! ripe berries!"
What ruby wine with their nectar can vie?
Laughing-eyed children, with lips dyed vermilion,
And finger-tips stained, the sweet secret have guessed;
And honey-bees joining the merry cotillion,
Meet with the birds at their lavish repast.
And finger-tips stained, the sweet secret have guessed;
And honey-bees joining the merry cotillion,
Meet with the birds at their lavish repast.
Berries! berries! bright luscious berries!
Ripening and melting the long summer through;
No sheaf-laden Ceres such tempting spoil carries;
Born of the sunshine, the breeze and the dew.
Ripening and melting the long summer through;
No sheaf-laden Ceres such tempting spoil carries;
Born of the sunshine, the breeze and the dew.