The Summer Nosegay Lyrics
The cowslips and primroses of spring are fading, so the speaker calls the listener to the garden where summer flowers grow. The posy is made of brier, lily, honeysuckle, rose, larkspur, streaky pink and marigold, gathered for a cheerful summer day.
The Summer Nosegay
Now the yellow cowslips fade,
All along the woody walk;
And the primrose hangs her head
Faintly, on her tiny stalk;
Let us to the garden go,
Where the flow'rs of summer grow.
Come, and make a nosegay there,
Plucking every flower that blows:
Brier sweet, and lily fair,
That along the valley grows;
With a honeysuckle red,
Round the shady arbour led.
Then a budding rose or two,
Half in mossy leaves enroll'd,
With the larkspur red and blue,
Streaky pink, and marigold:
These shall make our posy gay,
In the cheerful summer day.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-summer-nosegay/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Tune
- Easy and warm, in a steady walking rhythm
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Come, and make a nosegay there, | Beckon with one hand and cup the other as if holding flowers. |
| Round the shady arbour led. | Draw a slow curl in the air with one finger, like a vine. |
What Does The Summer Nosegay Mean?
This poem is the summer partner to the spring one. It starts by noticing the change: now the yellow cowslips fade and the primrose hangs her head. Those are spring flowers from the spring poem. Then it heads for the garden, where the flowers of summer grow.
The flowers are named in a list. Brier is a wild rose bush, honeysuckle is a climbing plant, and an arbour is a shady spot in a garden, here with the honeysuckle led around it. Larkspur is a tall flower, blue or red, and marigold is a golden-yellow one. A pink is a garden flower, and streaky describes its petals.
History and Origin
Of the four seasonal nosegay poems, this is the one that looks back, since its first line refers to the spring flowers fading.
Learning Activities
- Spring or summer: read both nosegay poems and list which flowers belong to which season.
- Colour match: give the child red, blue, pink and yellow crayons and ask which flowers could be which colour.
- Summer bunch: in the garden or park, look at what is flowering now and describe the colours.
- Arbour den: drape a sheet over two chairs to make a shady arbour and read the poem inside.