Free Vintage Nature Poem for Kids: Mother by M.M.D.

A poem simply entitled "Mother" by M.M.D. (I suspect it is Mary Mapes Dodge), published in October 1877. This is how it goes:
Early one summer morning,
I saw two children pass:
Their footsteps, slow yet lightsome,
Scarce bent the tender grass.

One, lately out of babyhood,
Looked up with eager eyes;
The other watched her wistfully,
Oppressed with smothered sighs.

"See, mother!" cried the little one,
"I gathered them for you?
The sweetest flowers and lilies,
And Mabel has some too."

"Hush, Nelly!" whispered Mabel,
"We have not reached it yet.
Wait till we get there, darling,
It isn't far, my pet."

"Get where?" asked Nelly. "Tell me."
"To the church-yard," Mabel said.
"No! no!" cried little Nelly,
And shook her sunny head.

Still Mabel whispered sadly,
"We must take them to the grave.
Come, darling?" and the childish voice
Tried to be clear and brave.

But Nelly still kept calling
Far up into the blue;
"See, mother, see, how pretty
We gathered them for you."

And when her sister pleaded,
She cried -- and would not go: --
"Angels don't live in church-yards,
My mother don't, I know."

Then Mabel bent and kissed her.
"So be it, dear," she said;
"We'll take them to the arbor
And lay them there instead."

"For mother loved it dearly,
It was the sweetest place!"
And the joy that came to Nelly
Shone up in Mabel's face.

I saw them turn, and follow
A path with blossoms bright,
Until the nodding branches
Concealed them from my sight;

But still like sweetest music
The words came ringing through;
"See, mother, see, how pretty
We gathered them for you."

Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized poems by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Free Victorian Sheet Music and Vintage Nature Clipart for Cardmaking, Collage or Scrapbooking: Spring Bird Waltz and Bird with Spring Blossoms

Hello, everyone. Two free graphics this morning:

(1) An illustration from one of my books on wild birds, published in 1901. This bird is called the chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), its name derived "...from the fancied resemblance of its notes to the words 'chiff chaff,' which are uttered with a quick, clear enunciation; the song is sweet and not unmelodious, and when alarmed the bird has a note of displeasure which sounds something like the word 'whoo-id' or 'whoo-it.'

...considered the earliest of our summer visitors, arriving in this country [England] sometimes in March, and remaining until October; indeed, of all small warblers, it is the first to come and the last to go."

Download the 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.

(2) A light-hearted dance tune called "Spring Bird Waltz" from the August 1, 1858 issue of Young Ladies' Journal. You can download this antique sheet music as a 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. All digital scans by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Still Life with Tulips by George Clausen

Still Life with Tulips, c1923
by Sir George Clausen, RA (1852 - 1944)
Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer.
― Anita Krizzan

The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.
― Harriet Ann Jacobs

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
― Anne Bradstreet

The flower does not choose the soil in which it blooms, but it blossoms nonetheless. It is not the path we are given, but how we walk it that gives us strength and beauty. Embrace hardship and suffering, for they are the forging fires of the soul. Accept your destiny, for it is the canvas upon which you will paint the masterpiece of your life.
― Sambou Lamine Diaby