Dandelion.... The Rustic Oracle.
Reading edition
The Dandelion is the most common of flowers. It is found in the four quarters of the globe, near the pole as beneath the equator, on the margin of rivers and streams as well as on sterile rocks. It serves the shepherd instead of a clock, while its feathery tufts are his barometer, predicting calm or storm. The globes formed by the seeds of the Dandelion are used for other purposes. If you are separated from the object of your love, pluck one of those feathery spheres, charge each of the little feathers with a tender thought; turn toward the spot where the loved one dwells; blow, and the aërial travellers will faithfully convey your secret message to his or her feet. If you wish to know if that dear one is thinking of you, blow again; and if a single aigrette is left upon the stalk, it is a proof that you are not forgotten.
As thinks The mariner of home, When doomed through many a dreary waste Of waters yet to roam,— Thus doth my spirit turn to thee, My guiding star o’er life’s wild sea. Mrs. Embury.
Dandelion, with globe of down, The schoolboy’s clock in every town, Which the truant puffs amain, To conjure lost hours back again. Howitt.