<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=449923" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Clover-Blossom</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">In a quiet, pleasant meadow,<br>Beneath a summer sky,<br>Where green old trees their branches waved,<br>And winds went singing by;<br>Where a little brook went rippling<br>So musically low,<br>And passing clouds cast shadows<br>On the waving grass below;<br>Where low, sweet notes of brooding birds<br>Stole out on the fragrant air,<br>And golden sunlight shone undimmed<br>On all most fresh and fair;--<br>There bloomed a lovely sisterhood<br>Of happy little flowers,<br>Together in this pleasant home,<br>Through quiet summer hours.<br>No rude hand came to gather them,<br>No chilling winds to blight;<br>Warm sunbeams smiled on them by day,<br>And soft dews fell at night.<br>So here, along the brook-side,<br>Beneath the green old trees,<br>The flowers dwelt among their friends,<br>The sunbeams and the breeze.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">One morning, as the flowers awoke,<br>Fragrant, and fresh, and fair,<br>A little worm came creeping by,<br>And begged a shelter there.<br>'Ah! pity and love me,' sighed the worm,<br>'I am lonely, poor, and weak;<br>A little spot for a resting-place,<br>Dear flowers, is all I seek.<br>I am not fair, and have dwelt unloved<br>By butterfly, bird, and bee.<br>They little knew that in this dark form<br>Lay the beauty they yet may see.<br>Then let me lie in the deep green moss,<br>And weave my little tomb,<br>And sleep my long, unbroken sleep<br>Till Spring's first flowers come.<br>Then will I come in a fairer dress,<br>And your gentle care repay<br>By the grateful love of the humble worm;<br>Kind flowers, O let me stay!'<br>But the wild rose showed her little thorns,<br>While her soft face glowed with pride;<br>The violet hid beneath the drooping ferns,<br>And the daisy turned aside.<br>Little Houstonia scornfully laughed,<br>As she danced on her slender stem;<br>While the cowslip bent to the rippling waves,<br>And whispered the tale to them.<br>A blue-eyed grass looked down on the worm,<br>As it silently turned away,<br>And cried, 'Thou wilt harm our delicate leaves,<br>And therefore thou canst not stay.'<br>Then a sweet, soft voice, called out from far,<br>'Come hither, poor worm, to me;<br>The sun lies warm in this quiet spot,<br>And I'll share my home with thee.'<br>The wondering flowers looked up to see<br>Who had offered the worm a home:<br>'T was a clover-blossom, whose fluttering leaves<br>Seemed beckoning him to come;<br>It dwelt in a sunny little nook,<br>Where cool winds rustled by,<br>And murmuring bees and butterflies came,<br>On the flower's breast to lie.<br>Down through the leaves the sunlight stole,<br>And seemed to linger there,<br>As if it loved to brighten the home<br>Of one so sweet and fair.<br>Its rosy face smiled kindly down,<br>As the friendless worm drew near;<br>And its low voice, softly whispering, said<br>'Poor thing, thou art welcome here;<br>Close at my side, in the soft green moss,<br>Thou wilt find a quiet bed,<br>Where thou canst softly sleep till Spring,<br>With my leaves above thee spread.<br>I pity and love thee, friendless worm,<br>Though thou art not graceful or fair;<br>For many a dark, unlovely form,<br>Hath a kind heart dwelling there;<br>No more o'er the green and pleasant earth,<br>Lonely and poor, shalt thou roam,<br>For a loving friend hast thou found in me,<br>And rest in my little home.'<br>Then, deep in its quiet mossy bed,<br>Sheltered from sun and shower,<br>The grateful worm spun its winter tomb,<br>In the shadow of the flower.<br>And Clover guarded well its rest,<br>Till Autumn's leaves were sere,<br>Till all her sister flowers were gone,<br>And her winter sleep drew near.<br>Then her withered leaves were softly spread<br>O'er the sleeping worm below,<br>Ere the faithful little flower lay<br>Beneath the winter snow.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Spring came again, and the flowers rose<br>From their quiet winter graves,<br>And gayly danced on their slender stems,<br>And sang with the rippling waves.<br>Softly the warm winds kissed their cheeks;<br>Brightly the sunbeams fell,<br>As, one by one, they came again<br>In their summer homes to dwell.<br>And little Clover bloomed once more,<br>Rosy, and sweet, and fair,<br>And patiently watched by the mossy bed,<br>For the worm still slumbered there.<br>Then her sister flowers scornfully cried,<br>As they waved in the summer air,<br>'The ugly worm was friendless and poor;<br>Little Clover, why shouldst thou care?<br>Then watch no more, nor dwell alone,<br>Away from thy sister flowers;<br>Come, dance and feast, and spend with us<br>These pleasant summer hours.<br>We pity thee, foolish little flower,<br>To trust what the false worm said;<br>He will not come in a fairer dress,<br>For he lies in the green moss dead.'<br>But little Clover still watched on,<br>Alone in her sunny home;<br>She did not doubt the poor worm's truth,<br>And trusted he would come.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At last the small cell opened wide,<br>And a glittering butterfly,<br>From out the moss, on golden wings,<br>Soared up to the sunny sky.<br>Then the wondering flowers cried aloud,<br>'Clover, thy watch was vain;<br>He only sought a shelter here,<br>And never will come again.'<br>And the unkind flowers danced for joy,<br>When they saw him thus depart;<br>For the love of a beautiful butterfly<br>Is dear to a flower's heart.<br>They feared he would stay in Clover's home,<br>And her tender care repay;<br>So they danced for joy, when at last he rose<br>And silently flew away.<br>Then little Clover bowed her head,<br>While her soft tears fell like dew;<br>For her gentle heart was grieved, to find<br>That her sisters' words were true,<br>And the insect she had watched so long<br>When helpless, poor, and lone,<br>Thankless for all her faithful care,<br>On his golden wings had flown.<br>But as she drooped, in silent grief,<br>She heard little Daisy cry,<br>'O sisters, look! I see him now,<br>Afar in the sunny sky;<br>He is floating back from Cloud-Land now,<br>Borne by the fragrant air.<br>Spread wide your leaves, that he may choose<br>The flower he deems most fair.'<br>Then the wild rose glowed with a deeper blush,<br>As she proudly waved on her stem;<br>The Cowslip bent to the clear blue waves,<br>And made her mirror of them.<br>Little Houstonia merrily danced,<br>And spread her white leaves wide;<br>While Daisy whispered her joy and hope,<br>As she stood by her gay friends' side.<br>Violet peeped from the tall green ferns,<br>And lifted her soft blue eye<br>To watch the glittering form, that shone<br>Afar in the summer sky.<br>They thought no more of the ugly worm,<br>Who once had wakened their scorn;<br>But looked and longed for the butterfly now,<br>As the soft wind bore him on.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Nearer and nearer the bright form came,<br>And fairer the blossoms grew;<br>Each welcomed him, in her sweetest tones;<br>Each offered her honey and dew.<br>But in vain did they beckon, and smile, and call,<br>And wider their leaves unclose;<br>The glittering form still floated on,<br>By Violet, Daisy, and Rose.<br>Lightly it flew to the pleasant home<br>Of the flower most truly fair,<br>On Clover's breast he softly lit,<br>And folded his bright wings there.<br>'Dear flower,' the butterfly whispered low,<br>'Long hast thou waited for me;<br>Now I am come, and my grateful love<br>Shall brighten thy home for thee;<br>Thou hast loved and cared for me, when alone,<br>Hast watched o'er me long and well;<br>And now will I strive to show the thanks<br>The poor worm could not tell.<br>Sunbeam and breeze shall come to thee,<br>And the coolest dews that fall;<br>Whate'er a flower can wish is thine,<br>For thou art worthy all.<br>And the home thou shared with the friendless worm<br>The butterfly's home shall be;<br>And thou shalt find, dear, faithful flower,<br>A loving friend in me.'<br>Then, through the long, bright summer hours<br>Through sunshine and through shower,<br>Together in their happy home<br>Dwelt butterfly and flower.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Louisa+May+Alcott">Louisa May Alcott</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=449923" data-title="Clover-Blossom de Louisa May Alcott" data-description="In a quiet, pleasant meadow, Beneath a summer sky, Where green old trees their branches waved, And winds went singing by; Where a little brook went rippling So musically low, And passing clouds cast shadows On the waving grass below; Where low, sw..."></div> </div> </div>

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