A Song Of Poppies

I love red poppies!  Imperial red poppies!
  Sun-worshippers are they;
Gladly as trees live through a hundred summers
  They live one little day.

I love red poppies!  Impassioned scarlet poppies!
  Ever their strange perfume
Seems like an essence brewed by fairy people
  From an immortal bloom.

I love red poppies!  Red, silken, swaying poppies!
  Deep in their hearts they keep
A magic cure for woe--a draught of Lethe--
  A lotus-gift of sleep.

I love red poppies!  Soft silver-stemmed, red poppies,
  That from the rain and sun
Gather a balm to heal some earth-born sorrow,
  When their glad day is done.