Here is a lovely vintage poem about spring titled The Arbutus by Helen Jackson – “H. H.” I scanned the original aged page from the book Flowers from Dell and Bower, 1896.
Click on image to enlarge.
The Arbutus ~ Vintage Spring Poem
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Julie is a vintage enthusiast and a Photoshop addict who collects old books and new recipes.
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The Arbutus was a sweet poem. She had awful handwriting and I couldn’t make out some words. It reminds me of trying to decipher the old census records when I do genealogy! I don’t know how you find this old fashioned stuff. I just love it! Now I’m going to google Arbutus and see what the poem was all about!
If you found the poem, I’d love to compare it to what I typed (below). After poring over the image, counting the meter, and comparing lines back & forth, this is what I believe it to say:
The Arbutus
Of all the Spring’s belovéd,
Oh fair and fickle Spring,
Not one except Arbutus,
Can trust what She will bring
The rest, one year, get blossoms,
In punctual sunshine bright.
The next, thay wait and shiver
bud droops in icy blight.
Arbutus, witch, and lover
Has forged for Spring such chain
However far She wanders,
She’s back on time again.
And whether snows have melted,
or lie all solid white,
Arbutus’ blossoms blossom,
Their rosy cups all right.
And happy youths and maidens
Its secret haunts who know,
Go confident to seek it,
And find it neath the snow.
Of all the Spring’s beloved,
Of all that She can bring,
Y She’ll give us Arbutus,
The rest may wait all Spring!
H. H.
Love this! It will make a wonderful background in my art journal. TFS
thank you