time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love
(all the merry little birds are
flying in the floating in the
very spirits singing in
are winging in the blossoming)
lovers go and lovers come
awandering awondering
but any two are perfectly
alone there's nobody else alive
(such a sky and such a sun
i never knew and neither did you
and everybody never breathed
quite so many kinds of yes)
not a tree can count his leaves
each herself by opening
but shining who by thousands mean
only one amazing thing
(secretly adoring shyly
tiny winging darting floating
merry in the blossoming
always joyful selves are singing)
sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love
― e. e. cummings, Collected Poems
The botanical illustration above shows a trio of flowers from the Amaryllidacea family, consisting of (1) Peruvian Amancaes, a daffodil-like flower first brought to England in 1804; (2) the Common Sea Daffodil, a mainstay in British gardens for centuries; and (3) Hymenocallis, a name signifying "beautiful membrane," an aquatic plant from Mexico.
From the book, here are the original descriptions:
From my personal collection of ephemera. All digital scans by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.