To A Columbine

O Columbine, thou flower of blue,
So faintly tinged with heaven's hue,
I look into the heart of you,
Transparent, and so tender, too,
Your bell-shaped heart of white.

O flower that grows on mountain side,
And still grows near the Great Divide,
The path that leads to you may guide
From green and grassy meadows wide,
Into a rocky gulch.

But time well spent is his whose feet
The hidden haunt of of thee doth seek;
For in thy rough and steep retreat,
From rock-hewn bead 'neath snow-clad peak,
Your lovely blossoms nod.

when first I saw you growing there
From 'neath the rocks and everywhere,
At evening on that day so fair,
My heart sent up a joyous prayer
That God clothed the earth with you!