| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | III. Cultivation | | By Mrs. Elizabeth Clementine Kinney (1810–1889) |
| | | WEEDS grow unasked, and even some sweet flowers | |
| Spontaneous give their fragrance to the air, | |
| And bloom on hills, in vales, and everywhere, | |
| As shines the sun, or fall the summer showers, | |
| But wither while our lips pronounce them fair! | 5 |
| Flowers of more worth repay alone the care, | |
| The nurture, and the hopes of watchful hours. | |
| While plants most cultured have most lasting powers. | |
| So, flowers of Genius that will longest live | |
| Spring not in Mind’s uncultivated soil, | 10 |
| But are the birth of time, and mental toil, | |
| And all the culture Learning’s hand can give: | |
| Fancies, like wild-flowers, in a night may grow; | |
| But thoughts are plants whose stately growth is slow. | | | | |
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