_By a Bed of Pansies_ This pansy has a thinking face Like the yellow moon. This one has a face with white blots: I call him the clown. Here goes one down the grass With a pretty look of plumpness: She is a little girl going to school With her hands in the pockets of her pinafore. Her name is Sue. I like this one, in a bonnet, Waiting-- Her eyes are so deep! But these on the other side, These that wear purple and blue, They are the Velvets, The king with his cloak, The queen with her gown, The prince with his feather. These are dark and quiet And stay alone. _I know you, Velvets Color of Dark, Like the pine-tree on the hill When stars shine!_ HILDA CONKLING (_Six years old_) WHEN SWALLOWS BUILD When apple-blossom time doth come And with their scent the air is filled, And fields are full of buttercups,-- 'Tis then the swallows build. And when the rippling brooks are deep, Filled to the overflowing, When o'er the hills and meadows fair The south wind's softly blowing, With sun a-shining, birds a-singing Till their joyous throats are thrilled, And with all the world in laughter,-- 'Tis then the swallows build. CATHERINE PARMENTER (_Eleven years old_) SPRING PLANTING "What shall we plant for our Summer, my boy,-- Seeds of enchantment and seedlings of joy? Brave little cuttings of laughter and light? Then shall our summer be flowery and bright." "Nay!--You are wrong in your planting," said he, "Have we not grass and the weeds and a tree? Why should we water and weary away For sake of a flower that lives but a day!" So she made gardens which he would not dig, Tended her apricot, apple and fig. Then, when one morning he chanced to appear, Sadly he noticed--"No trespassing here." HELEN HAY WHITNEY IF I COULD DIG LIKE A RABBIT If I could dig holes in the ground like a rabbit, D'you know what I'd do? Well, I'd dig a deep hole-- Right under that tree-- Then I'd go down--and down, And find out where the tree starts, And I'd find out how it eats and drinks, And what makes it grow.... Yes I would! P'r'aps I could dig a hole right up into that tree, And--see--it--grow!... But p'r'aps I couldn't. Anyway I could dig 'way down, And see all the flower seeds, And all the grass seeds, And under that big rock there might be some rock seeds. And I'd see everything start growing.