BLUE-BELLS IN THE SHADE by ELIZA COOK

The choicest buds in Flora's train
Let other fingers twine;
Let others snatch the damask rose,
Or wreathe the eglantine.
I'd leave the sunshine and parterre,
And seek the woodland glade,
To stretch me on the fragrant bed
Of blue-bells in the shade.

Let others cull the daffodil,
The lily, soft and fair,
And deem the tulip's gaudy cup
Most beautiful and rare;
But give to me, oh, give to me
The coronal that's made
Of golden wheat-ears, mingled with
The blue-bells from the shade.

The sunflower and the peony
The poppy, bright and gay,
Have no alluring charms for me;
I'd fling them all away.
Exotic bloom may fill the vase,
Or grace the high-born maid;
But sweeter far, to me, than all,
Are blue-bells in the shade.

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