inding not the April wind
Blowing rude and cold;
Brave little dandelion,
With a heart of gold.

Meek little dandelion,
Changing into curls
At the magic touch of these
Merry boys and girls.
When they pinch thy dainty throat,
Strip thy dress of green,
On thy soft and gentle face
Not a cloud is seen.

Poor little dandelion,
Now all gone to seed,
Scattered roughly by the wind
Like a common weed.
Thou hast lived thy little life
Smiling every day;
Who could do a better thing
In a better way?

--_Anon._

AFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY.

The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.

Through clouds like ashes,
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red.

The snow recommences;
The buried fences
Mark no longer
The road o'er the plain;

While through the meadows,
Like fearful shadows,
Slowly passes
A funeral train.

The bell is pealing,
And every feeling
Within me responds
To the dismal knell.

Shadows are trailing,
My heart is bewailing
And tolling within
Like a funeral bell.

--_Longfellow._

NIKOLINA.[4]

Oh, tell me, little children, have you seen her--
The tiny maid from Norway, Nikolina?
Oh, her eyes are blue as corn-flowers 'mid the corn,
And her cheeks are rosy red as skies of morn.

Oh, buy the baby's blossoms if you meet her,
And stay with gentle looks and words to greet her;
She'll gaze at you and smile and clasp your hand,
But not one word of yours can understand.

"Nikolina!" Swift she turns if any call her,
As she stands among the poppies, hardly taller;
Breaking off their flaming scarlet cups for you,
With spikes of slender larkspur, brightly blue.

In her little garden many a flower is growing--
Red, gold and purple, in the soft wind blowing;
But the child that stands amid the blossoms gay
Is sweeter, quainter, brighter, lovelier even than they.

Oh, tell me, little children, have you seen her--
This baby girl from Norway, Nikolina?
Slowly she's learning English words to try
And thank you if her flowers you buy.

--_Celia Thaxter._

[4] Copyrighted by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Reprinted by
permission of