THREE OF US KNOW

Who are my playfellows?

Wait, you shall see;

Sometimes a little bird,

Sometimes a bee.

All through the summer world

Gayly we go.

Where is the greenest close,

Where is the sweetest rose,

Three of us know.

Bee seeks the rose’s heart,

Bird seeks the tree,

I seek a little brook

Clear as can be.

It singeth all day long

Sweetly and low,

Ballad of sun and star;

What its song secrets are

Three of us know.

Bee takes the honey home

To the Queen bee;

Bird seeks a nest that hides

High in the tree;

I seek a little house

Where sweet vines grow.

What in God’s world is best—

Trees, flowers, home, and rest—

Three of us know.

—Marie Van Vorst