Queen Anne's Lace

It's everywhere at this time of year, in the hedgerows, at the roadside, in the orchard, Queen Anne's Lace :

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night,
Then waked to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a summer's day)
But left her lace to whiten on
Each weed entangled way. 

                                                                                                         Mary Leslie Newton