The Gentian weaves her fringes－1
The Maple's loom is red－
My departing blossoms
Obviate parade.
A brief, but patient illness－5
An hour to prepare,
And one below this morning
Is where the angels are－
It was a short procession,
The Bobolink was there－10
An aged Bee addressed us－
And then we knelt in prayer－
We trust that she was willing－
We ask that we may be.
Summer－Sister－Seraph! 15
Let us go with thee!
In the name of the Bee－17
And of the Butterfly－
And of the Breeze－Amen!
The Maple's loom is red－
My departing blossoms
Obviate parade.
A brief, but patient illness－5
An hour to prepare,
And one below this morning
Is where the angels are－
It was a short procession,
The Bobolink was there－10
An aged Bee addressed us－
And then we knelt in prayer－
We trust that she was willing－
We ask that we may be.
Summer－Sister－Seraph! 15
Let us go with thee!
In the name of the Bee－17
And of the Butterfly－
And of the Breeze－Amen!
(F.21/J.18)
[1–4] departing blossoms:: a plant's flowers dropped.
[5–8] to prepare:: preparation of a funeral for the flowers, not the plant.
[8] angels:: flowers of the angel's eye, also called bird's eye, the germander speedwell.
[13] she was willing:: the plant was willing to bury her flowers.
[14] We ask:: we request that we may become.
[15] Summer, Sister, Seraph:: passion, sisterhood, sanity.
[16] go with thee:: let passion, sisterhood, and sanity accompany us.
The white starry blossoms of the stitchwort spangle the bank, and among them the laughing blue eyes of the germander speedwell－"angels' eyes," as our country lads poetically call them－peep out by hundreds. ─ The Popular Science Review (1862)