A flower for S!
Is Sunflower he?
He’s handsome, yes,
But what of me?—

In my party suit
Of red and white,
And a gift of fruit
For the feast tonight:

Strawberries small
And wild and sweet,
For the Queen and all
Of her Court to eat!

Now will we tell of splendid things:
Seagulls, that sail on fearless wings
Where great cliffs tower, grand and high
Against the blue, blue summer sky.
Where none but birds (and sprites) can go.
Oh there the rosy sea-pinks grow,
(Sea-pinks, whose other name is Thrift);

They fill each crevice, chink, and rift
Where no one climbs; and at the top,
Too near the edge for sheep to crop,
Thick in the grass pink patches show.
The sea lies sparkling far below.
Oh lucky Thrift, to live so free
Between blue sky and bluer sea!

Poor little U
Has nothing to do!
He hasn’t a flower: not one.
For U is Unlucky, I’m sorry to tell;
U stands for Unfortunate, Ugly as well;
No single sweet flowery name will it spell—
Is there nothing at all to be done?

“Don’t fret, little neighbour,”
says kind fairy V,
“You’re welcome to share
all my flowers with me—
Come, play with them, laugh, and have fun.
I’ve Vetches in plenty for me and for you,
Verbena, Valerian, Violets too:
Don’t cry then, because you have none.”

Wallflower, Wallflower, up on the wall,
Who sowed your seed there?
“No one at all:
Long, long ago it was blown by the breeze
To the crannies of walls
where I live as I please.

“Garden walls, castle walls, mossy and old,
These are my dwellings;
from these I behold
The changes of years;
yet, each spring that goes by,
Unchanged in my sweet-smelling
velvet am I!”

You saucy X! You love to vex
Your next-door neighbour Y:
And just because no flower is yours,
You tease him on the sly.
Straight, yellow, tall,—of Nettles all,
The handsomest is his;
He thinks no ill, and wonders still
What all your mischief is.
Yet have a care! Bad imp, beware
His upraised hand and arm:
Though stingless, he comes leaping—see!—
To save his flower from harm.

Z for Zinnias, pink or red;
See them in the flower-bed,
Copper, orange, all aglow,
Making such a stately show.

I, their fairy, say Good-bye,
For the last of all am I.
Now the Alphabet is said
All the way from A to Z.