A Birthday Poem

I found this sweet poem on http://www.Poets.org It was written by Victorian poetess Christina Rossetti and goes well with my painting of a girl on a summer picnic.

A Birthday
by Christina Rossetti
My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these, Because my love is come to me. Raise me a daïs of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me.

The Little Straw Boater

Now is this true or not: we had our fill of a couple of ridiculous hats this week, on viewing and reviewing the Royal Wedding? What was true of the previous centuries, is true today, and that is that most feathers look better on the original bird than on a lady's hat!

In the Twenties there were actual publicity and movements to stop the use of 'bits of animal or bird', like those bound bundles of feathers or porcupine quills which were perched on the side of hats. Worse were the ostrich feathers which could be seen bobbing way above the heads of most of the males in a room!

So here is something innocent and refreshing, the straw boater! These hats became popular once again when women gained their freedom of dress in the Twenties. What could be more ideal to wear for summer picnic lunches, drives in open Model T Fords, playing golf or tennis, hiking or cycling?