ERNESTINA.
Reading edition
(OR THE GILIA TRICOLOR.)
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BY ERNESTINE FITZGERALD.
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Thus have ye named this modest flower,
Bright Gilia—of colors three:
What hath God given as its dower?
In what doth it resemble me?
Tiny, it hath persistent power—
It heedeth storm nor frost, ye see.
If therefore ye have named it thus,
More fitting fond ye will not find:
“But Ernestina makes more fuss,
At wintry frost and chilling wind,
Than hosts on hosts, robust like us!”
Persistence, love, is in the mind.
The little blossoms of her soul
Come forth at every sun-ray’s will:
Glance at the seed-calls! every stroll
Of warmth from heaven doth some one fill:
Let cloud and tempest o’er her roll,
The flowret and the fruit come still.
Well has love named the humble flower,
Meek Gilia, of colors three;
Well have ye placed it in your bower,
To emblem there, Humility;
Thus may it gain a higher power
Than it may ever claim from me.