‘ ROSES’

I wandered shyly as a ghost

That prowls in haunted keeps and tow'rs,

When all at once I saw a host,

A crowd of ladies selling flow'rs;

Along the Mall, beside the Pond,

From Lady Cr-we to Lady M-nd!

Continuous as the stars that shine,

Like poppies in a field of wheat,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the kerb of ev'ry street;

Ten thousand saw I, file by file,

Selling their‘ blooms’ with sprightly smile.

The world about them smiled, for they

Bedecked the dingy thoroughfares;

A fellow could not fail to pay

His penny for such wares as theirs.

I bought and bought — but little guessed

What wealth those simple flowers expressed.

For all the cash they helped to net,

In streets where stood their rosy stalls,

Went to reduce that endless debt

Which is the curse of hospitals;

And Chairmen cast dull care away

And danced on Alexandra Day!