| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Buttercups | | By Wilfrid Thorley (1878–1963) |
| | | THERE must be fairy miners | |
| Just underneath the mould, | |
| Such wondrous quaint designers | |
| Who live in caves of gold. | |
| |
| They take the shining metals, | 5 |
| And beat them into shreds; | |
| And mould them into petals, | |
| To make the flowers’ heads. | |
| |
| Sometimes they melt the flowers, | |
| To tiny seeds like pearls, | 10 |
| And store them up in bowers | |
| For little boys and girls. | |
| |
| And still a tiny fan turns | |
| Above a forge of gold; | |
| To keep with fairy lanterns, | 15 |
| The world from growing old. | | | | |
|
|
