GOLDEN-ROD.
BY M. R. COLQUITT.
Oh, mamma, I've heard such charming news
From the Bobolink down in the lane;
He knows many beautiful stories,
And promised to meet me again.
He told me about this rich Golden-Rod,
And whence came its glowing hue;
And I'm sure the bright little gossip
Wouldn't care if I should tell you.
He says when dear little Titania
Was proclaimed the fairies' Queen,
There was such a splendid banquet
As never before was seen,
And Titania's gorgeous costly robe,
All puffed with fold on fold,
Was made of a sunset tissue
Of shining dazzling gold.
The Knight of the Topaz Helmet
Was chosen to dance with her,
And he tore her beautiful court train
With the point of his diamond spur.
The wonderful exquisite fragment
Fluttered about in the breeze,
Now lighting the spears of the bending grass,
Now floating among the trees,
Till 'twas caught by the old head gardener,
Who gazed at it long, and said;
"This, fugitive flying sunbeam
Has put something new in my head,
"And our royal lady's accident
Has strangely given a hint,
And furnished me just what I longed for—
An idea of shape, and a tint
"For the flower that must be ready,
As soon as the dancing is done,
To present to our lovely sovereign
In token of fealty won.
"I'll take its form from the flashing plume
Of the Knight who threw in my way
This fleecy fluttering fragment,
So delicate, dainty, and gay.
"And if she accepts the token,
And prints with her gracious hand
The mystical sign upon it
That shows it from Fairy-land,
"I'll blow its seed to the outer world,
And scatter them over the sod,
And christen my feathery favorite
Queen Titania's Golden-Rod."
THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB.[1]
BY W. L. ALDEN,
Author of "The Moral Pirates," "The Cruise of the 'Ghost,'" etc., etc.