Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ROSEBUD'S FIRST BALL, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ROSEBUD'S FIRST BALL, by                    
First Line: "tis really time you were out, I think"
Last Line: "he's very nice, but inclined to be wild"
Subject(s): Children;play; Childhood


"'T IS really time you were out, I think,"
Said Lady Rose to her daughter small;
"So I'll send my invitations round,
And give you, my dear, a splendid ball.

"We'd best decide on your toilet first;
Your sister Jacqueminot wore dark red;
But you are so much smaller than she,
I think you must wear pale pink instead.

"Then, whom to invite: we can't ask all,
And yet it's hardest of all to tell
The flowers from weeds. Indeed, last year
I snubbed Field Daisy, and now she's a belle.

"We'll ask the Pansies, they're always in
The best society everywhere;
The Lilies, Heliotropes, and Pinks,
Geraniums, Fuchsias, must sure be there.

"Miss Mignonette is so very plain,
A favorite, though, -- I'll put her down;
The Violets, I think, are away;
They're always the first to leave for town.

"The Larkspurs are such old-fashioned things
It's not worth while asking them to come;
The Zinnias are coarse, Bergamots stiff,
The Marigolds better off at home.

"Miss Morning Glory I'd like to ask,
But then, she never goes out at night;
She's such a delicate thing, she says,
She scarce can bear a very strong light.

"The Verbenas, I know, will be put out
If we don't ask them; the Petunias, too.
They are not quite au fait, but then, my dear,
They're such near neighbors, what's one to do?

"I'll make out my list at once, for there
A butterfly is coming this way;
I'll send my invitations by him, --
He'll go the rounds without delay.

"Dear! dear! to think that to-morrow night
You'll really be out. Now listen, my child:
Don't go much with your cousin Sweet Brier;
He's very nice, but inclined to be wild."





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