The Amateur Botanist


A primrose by a river's brim
_Primula vulgaris_ was to him,
And it was nothing more;
A pansy, delicately reared,
_Viola tricolor_ appeared
In true botanic lore.

That which a pink the layman deems
_Dianthus caryophyllus_ seems
To any flower-fan; or
A sunflower, in that talk of his,
_Annuus helianthus_ is,
And it is nothing more.



A Word for It


"Scorn not the sonnet." Well, I reckon not,
I would not scorn a rondeau, villanelle,
Ballade, sestina, triolet, rondel,
Or e'en a quatrain, humble and forgot,
An so it made my Pegasus to trot