Dahlias fill a wondrous garden;
Peonies from the land of palms.
Radiant in their musky splendor;
Tulips with their gaudy charms.
Ah! for me spring's daffodillies,
Not the summer's tiger lilies.

For the gorgeous tiger lilies
Are the dark-eyed belles of Spain;
And the peonies, Eastern maidens
With their passionate cheeks aflame.
What care I for tulips slender,
With their oriental splendor!

But within the gorgeous garden,
In an angle of the wall,
Where the dew-drops still were clinging
In a grassy tangle tall,
There I spied a rosebud hiding,
In its weedy bower confiding.

Modest bud, still fresh with morning,
You are like a maid I know;
I will pass those gorgeous beauties;
They would stain a breast of snow.
I will pluck thee; - go, sweet blossom,
She shall wear thee on her bosom.