The Pimpernel. (Anagallis arvensis.)

The Pimpernel. (Anagallis arvensis.)

All who feel joy our rural sights to see,
Must know the little scarlet Pimpernel;
And they who named it “Shepherd’s Hourglass,” well
Had noted with what regularity
It opes and closes in the dry fine air. 5
You need not seek it when the atmosphere
Is charged with moisture. When the air is clear,
It opens early; but we may despair
Of finding it late in the afternoon.
True to the “short time movement” is this flower; 10
As if to teach us God ne’er meant each hour
Of our short lives should be all fret and frown;
But, like the Pimpernel, to rest and shine,
And prove the Hand that made us is Divine.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 24.] Also published in
Masonic Review, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., November 1887.