| Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922. |
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| The Flower of Mending |
| | | Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931) |
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| WHEN 1 Dragon-fly would fix his wings, | |
| When Snail would patch his house, | |
| When moths have marred the overcoat | |
| Of tender Mister Mouse, | |
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| The pretty creatures go with haste | 5 |
| To the sunlit blue-grass hills | |
| Where the Flower of Mending yields the wax | |
| And webs to help their ills. | |
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| The hour the coats are waxed and webbed | |
| They fall into a dream, | 10 |
| And when they wake the ragged robes | |
| Are joined without a seam. | |
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| My heart is but a dragon-fly, | |
| My heart is but a mouse, | |
| My heart is but a haughty snail | 15 |
| In a little stony house. | |
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| Your hand was honey-comb to heal, | |
| Your voice a web to bind. | |
| You were a Mending Flower to me | |
| To cure my heart and mind. | 20 |
| | | Note 1. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, from The Chinese Nightingale, and Other Poems, by Vachel Lindsay. Copyright, 1917, by The Macmillan Company. [back] |
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