Wildflowers in Winter: Literary Wildflowers

The following poems are not what I had intended to post for the Wildflowers in Winter Week 3 challenge. I stumbled across the first poem while looking for something else and decided to focus on sunflowers instead of what I had previously planned. Sunflowers are one of my favorite wildflowers and they are the Kansas state flower. Besides, I knew I would have at least a few sunflower pictures in my files to go along with the poems.

Two Sunflowers

by William Blake

Two Sunflowers
Move in the Yellow Room.
"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"
said the sunflowers, shining with dew."
Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?"
They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run.

Songs of Experience - The Sunflower
by William Blake

Ah, Sunflower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
Where the youth pined away with desire
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sunflower wishes to go.

When the Sunflowers Bloom
by Albert Bigelow Paine

I've been off on a journey; I jes' got home today;
I traveled east, and' north, and south, an' every other way;
I seen a heap of country, an' cities on the boom,
But I want to be in Kansas when the
Sun-
Flowers
Bloom

You may talk about yer lilies, yer vi'lets and yer roses,
Yer asters, an yer jassymins, an' all the other posies;
I'll allow they all air beauties an' full er sweet perfume,
But there's none of them a patchin' to the
Sun-
Flowers
Bloom

Oh, it's nice among the mount'ins, but I sorter felt shet in;
'T'ud be nice upon the seashore if it wasn't for the din;
While the prairies air so quiet, an' there's allers lots of room,
Oh, it's nicer still in Kansas when the
Sun-
Flowers
Bloom

When all the sky above is jest ez blue ez blue kin be;
An' the prairies air a wavin' like a yaller driftin' sea,
Oh, it's there my soul goes sailing an' my heart is on the boom
In the golden fields of Kansas when the
Sun-
Flowers
Bloom

Note: The top two pictures are plains coreopsis. The two bottom pictures are most likely common sunflowers.

I cannot seem to get the typesetting right for the final poem. To see its intended form, follow this link. You can find more Kansas poems here.