The First Dandelion by William Whitman Bailey

Find a dandelion
In green and gold bedlight
He is a boble scion,
A brave and gallant knight;
With many a field to try on,
All in his lady's sight.

His glittering targe he carries
Throughout the APril days,
By many a lane he tarries,
By lonely cliffs he stays;
Who asks him if he marries,
Who kens his soldier ways?


He is a dandy fellow--
A lion-king-at-arms,
With blazoned coat of yellow,
And ready for alarms;
With dulceet lute and mellow,
And all a courtier's charms.

By-and-by he'll send his pages,
All clothed in silky down--
On distant pilgrimages
To country and to town.
Who will dispute with sages
Though clad in cap and gown.

by William Whitman Bailey
The American Primary Teacher, Volume 24