Chambers's national reading-books Author:Chambers W. and R. ltd Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE FLAX-FLOWER. 0 the little flax-flower, It groweth on the lull, And, let the breeze awake or sleep, It never standeth still. It groweth, and it grow... more »eth fast; One day it is a seed, And then a little blade of grass, Scarce better than a weed; But soon comes out the flax-flower, As blue as is the sky; And ' 'Tis a dainty little thing !' "We say, as we go by. It is a dainty little thing; It groweth for the poor, And many a mother blesses it, Beside her cottage-door. It seemeth all astir with life, As if it loved to thrive; As if it had a merry heart "Within its stem alive ! Then blessings on the flax-field, And may the kindly showers Give strength unto the shining stem, Give seed unto the flowers 1 THE MONTHS—JUNE, JULY. tulips, lil'ies, garments, ehest'nut, beau'ti-ful, la-bur'imm, lilac, po'sies, pleas'ant, cur'rants, straw'ber-ries, scythe. June, ' the leafy month of June,' is the first month of summer. It is called 'the month of roses,' for roses, tulips, and lilies are now in flower. Everywhere the trees and flowers are clothed in their richest garments. The chestnut is covered with clusters of buds, and beautiful tassels hang down from the laburnum and lilac. The children's hands are now filled with posies or bunches of beautiful flowers, which they have plucked in the field, under the hedges in the green lanes, on the sunny banks, or under the shade of the great trees in the wood. Tha haymakers are hard at work in the fields. The mower whets his scythe, and cuts down the grass, and the haymakers shake it up with their forks, and the pleasant smell of the new-mown hay is carried on the wind to the far-away fields and villages it sweeps by. July is the warmest month of the year. It is 'the sweet summer-time, when...« less