The early crocus…..

 (From Mrs Kirtland’s Poetry of Flowers 1800)

 

Lowly, sprightly little flower !

Herald of a brighter bloom,

Bursting in a sunny hour

From thy winter tomb.

~*~ 

Hues you bring, bright, gay, and tender,

As if never to decay;

Fleeting in their varied splendor-

Soon, alas ! it fades away.

 ~*~

Thus the hopes I long had cherished

Thus the friends I long had known.

One by one, like you, have perished.

Blighted—I must fade alone.