<• <• TEA ROSE. FLOWERS, THEIR Umpire, Jflctnr, anfo Sentiment, WITH CHOICEST EXTRACTS FROM POETS, A Dictionary of the Sentiment of every Flower Botanical Descriptions, &c. Philadelphia : PORTER & COATES. INTRODUCTION. Siiakspeare tells us that, “fairies use flowers for their charactery,” and so do mortals, for the language of flowers is almost as ancient and universal as that of speech. It has been said that the language of flowers is as old as the days of Adam, and that the an¬ tiquity of floral emblems dates from the first throbbing of love in the human breast. “ Flowers, the sole luxury that Nature knew In Eden’s pure and guiltless garden.” Of all peoples of whom we possess any relia¬ ble records, the Greeks may be accounted the earliest florigraphists, and they seem not only to have entertained the most passionate love for flowers, but to have adapted them as typical of every interesting occurrence, public or private. “ All those token flowers that tell What words can ne’er express so well.” Iv INTRODUCTION. In that time—that clime “where burning Sappho lived and sung” the praises of the Rose —the minstrel, the poet, the wrestler, and the patriot were all rewarded with wreathed florali- ties. Even Rome—ambitious Rome—held a flow¬ ery crown as fit guerdon for the weightiest ser¬ vices. “ Itwas with two or three hundred crowns of oak,” said Montesquieu, “ that R 6 me con¬ quered the world.” These same warlike Latins instituted a festival in honor of Flora as early as 736 years before the birth of Christ—in the reign of Romulus. The language of flowers was well understood and used from the earliest ages by many conti¬ nental nations. After the decay of Latin im¬ perialism, and until the dawn of the Iicnciis sauce , this delightful and attractive study was little known ; but in the age of chivalry and of the pre-eminence of the Romish faith it revived 5 floral significations again held sway. The Ca¬ tholic was enabled to distinguish between fast¬ ing and feasting ceremonies by the variety of the bouquets that adorned the altar before which he offered up his orisons, and ofttimes the knight was enabled to manifest his devotion by wear¬ ing his lady’s colors in his casque, and the lady frequently showed in what light she regarded his attention by the nature of the blooms she wore. _ . .. Florigraphy is a science that requires but lit- INTRODUCTION. < tie study. Some flowers almost bear written upon their upturned faces the thoughts of which they are living representatives. That the “white investments” of the childlike Daisy should, as Shakspeare says, “ figure innocence,” is self-evident; that all nations should select the glowing Rose as an emblem of love could not be wondered at; whilst the little blue petals of the Mysotis palustris require no augur to ex¬ plain their common name of Forget-me-not. Who can doubt that the rich perfumes of some plants, or the sparkling lustres of others, must be deemed typical of joy and gladness; or that the melancholy hue and sombre looks of others symbolize sadness and despair? Simple as is the language of those bright earth stars, “ the alphabet of the angels,” a great deal of skill may be expended in forming them into sentences, and much ingenuity may be exercised in explaining fully and satisfac¬ torily the sentiments intended to be expressed towards the recipient of the floral message. Many who use this fascinating styld of corre¬ spondence frequently agree to adopt certain se¬ cret and original significations known only to themselves ; and, if a little dexterity is shown, they not only give variety to, but also render their charming telegraphy perfectly unintelligb ble to the uninitiated. Every student of this gentle art may intro- INTRODUCTION. rl duce new and varied combinations into its sim pie laws: but there are a few rudimentary rules that should not be neglected. “ When a flowel Js presented in its natural position, the senti¬ ment is to be understood affirmatively ; when reversed, negatively. For instance, a rose-bud, with its leaves and thorns, indicates ^fear with hope; but if reversed, it must be construed as saying, “you may neither fear nor hope.” Again, divest the same rose-bud of its thorns, and it permits the most sanguine hope ; deprive it of its petals and retain the thorns, and the worst fears may be entertained. The Marigold is emblematic of pain : place it on the head, and it signifies trouble of mind ; on the heart, the pangs of love; on the bosom, the disgusts of ennui. The pronoun I is expressed by in¬ clining the symbol to the right, and the pro¬ noun thou by inclining it to the left.” Mrs. Ilemans, in the passionate poetry of such lines as these, tells more than prose can hope to utter: “Bring flowers, young flowers, for the festal board, To wreathe the cup ere the wine is poured; Bring flowers !—they are springing in wood and vale, Their breath floats out on the southern gale, And the touch of the sunbeam hath waked the rose, To deck the hall where the bright wine flows. INTRODUCTION. vil “Bring flowers, to strew in the conqueror’s path— He hath shaken the thrones with his stormy wrath I He comes with the spoil of nations back ; The vines lie crushed in his chariot’s track, The turf looks red where he won the day— Bring flowers to die in the conqueror’s way! “Bring flowers to the captive’s lonely cell,—• They have tales of the joyous wood to tell; Of the free blue streams, and the glowing sky, Of the bright world shut from his-languid eye; They will bear him a thought of the sunny hours, And a dream of his youth—bring him flowers, wild flowers ! “ Bring flowers, fresh flowers, for the bride to wear! They were horn to blush in her shining hair. She is leaving the homo of her childhood’s mirth, She hath bid farewell to her father's hearth; Her place is now by another’s side— Bring flowers for the locks of the fair young bride ! “Bring flowers, pale flowers, on the bier to shed A crown for the brow of the early dead ; For this through its leaves hath the white rose burst; For this in the woods was the violet nursed. Though they smile in vain for what once was ours, They are love’s last gift—bring ye flowers, pale flowers! INTRODUCTION. riii ‘‘ Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer: They are nature’s offering — their place is there ! They speak of hope to the fainting heart; With a voice of promise they come and part ; They sleep in dust through the winter hours, They break forth in glory—bring flowers, bright flowers !” Mrs. Browning, in her poem of “A Flower in a Letter,” tells us that “ Love’s language may be talked with these; To work out choicest sentences, No blossoms can be meeter ; And, such being used in Eastern bowers, Young maids may wonder if the flowers Or meanings be the sweeter. “ And such being strewn before a bride, Her little foot may turn aside, Their longer bloom decreeing, Unless some voice’s whispered sound Should make her gaze upon the ground Too earnestly for seeing. “ And such being scattered on a grave, Whoever mourneth there, may have A type which seemeth worthy Of that fair body hid below, Which bloomed on earth a time ago. Then perished as the earthy. INTRODUCTION. lx “ And such being wreathed for worldly feast, Across the brimming cup some guest Their rainbow colors viewing, May feel them, with a silent start, The covenant his childish heart With Nature made,-—renewing.” “ Flowers have their language,” says an able writer: 11 theirs is an oratory that speaks in perfumed silence, and there is tenderness, and passion, and even the lightheartedness of mirth, in the variegated beauty of their vocabulary. . . . . No spoken word can approach to the deli¬ cacy of sentiment to be inferred from a flower seasonably offered ; the softest expressions may be thus conveyed without offence, and even pro¬ found grief alleviated, at a moment when the most tuneful voice would grate harshly on the ear, and when the stricken soul can be soothed only by unbroken silence.” Of this latter state, how truly hath the poet said : “When we are sad, to sadness we apply Each plant, and flower, and leaf, that meets the eye.’' Do not flowers, lovely flowers, respond to the questionings of our hearts in a language more powerful, and far more expressive, than that of the tongue? Even more potent than the poet’s magic lay, x INTRODUCTION. “ They pour an answering strain, that never Could be awoke by minstrel skill.” Letitia Landon, in “ The Poetess/’ while tell ing the “ History of the Lyre,” exclaims— “ The flowers were full of song: upon the rose I read the crimson annals of true love The violet flung me back an old romance; All were associated with some link Whose fine electric throb was in the mind.” Tennyson, in his ever-questioning philosophy, may ask, “ Oh, to what uses shall be put The wild weed flower that simply blows? And is there any moral shut Within the bosom of the rose ?” But he at once answers his own doubt by add ing that “Any man that walks the mead, In bird, or blade, or bloom, may find— According as his humors lead— A meaning suited to his mind.” This love of florigraphy is plainly one of those natural touches which make all the world akin—one of those binding links whose origin we cannot detect, and whose effects only we can perceive. Here we may exclaim with Eliza Cook: INTRODUCTION. xi “ Oh, could we but trace the great meaning of all, And what delicate links form the ponderous chain, From the dew-drops that rise, to the star-drops that fall, We should see but one purpose, and nothing in vain !’“ The richly varied and magnificent flora of our American continent offers our sons and daugh¬ ters a floral vocabulary capable of almost un¬ limited application, and readily have we seized upon and resuscitated the decaying systems of the Eastern Hemisphere. The numerous bril¬ liant and original tokens already sent forth in explanation of the American language of flow¬ ers prove we are not dependent upon European codes for emblematic communion; as Holmes says: “They ask no garlands sought beyond the tide, But take the leaflets gathered at their side.” Many blossoms gathered from Columbia’s well- stored garden will be discerned in this bouquet; but this bright bud of Charles Fenno Hoff¬ mann's will not fail to increase the brilliancy of the tout ensemble: THE LANGUAGE OF FLOVTEES. “Teach thee their language? Sweet, I know no tongue, No mystic art those gentle things declare ; I ne’er could trace the schoolman’s trick among Created things so delicate and rare. INTRODUCTION. tii Their language ? Prithee! why, they are them¬ selves But bright thoughts syllabled to shape and hue— The tongue that erst was spoken by the elves, When tenderness as yet within the world was new. And, oh ! do not their soft and starry eyes— Now bent to earth, to heaven now meekly pleading, Their incense fainting as it seeks the skies, Yet still from earth with freshening hope reced¬ ing— Say, do not these to every heart declare, With all the silent eloquence of truth, The language that they speak is Nature's prayer, To give her back those spotless days of youth ?” That flowers do mingle in the general prayer of nature, no thinking mind can deny. The links that bind them—that have ever bound them—to humanity, are too manifold to be broken or concealed. From the earliest historic ages, flowers have mingled with the deeds, and, alas ! misdeeds, of man ; and it was probably “ the general power of sympathy which caused them to be connected with some of the earliest events that history records. The mythologies of all nations are full of them; and in all times they have been associated with the soldiery, the governments, and the arts. Thus the patriot was crowned with Oak; the hero and the poet INTRODUCTION. xiii with Bay ; and beauty with the Myrtle. Peace had her Olive; Bacchus his Ivy; and whole groves of oak-trees were thought to send out oracular voices in the winds. One of the most pleasing parts of state splendor has been asso¬ ciated with flowers. . . It was this that brought the gentle family of Roses into such unnatural broils in the civil wars ; and still the united countries of Great Britain have each a floral emblem: Scotland has its Thistle, Ireland its Shamrock, and England the Rose. France, under the Bourbons, had the golden Lily.” Notwithstanding all that has happened, all that has been said upon the subject, some peo¬ ple still refuse credence to the influence of flow¬ ers—even deeming frivolous or meaningless these florigraphical tokens which have been a source of joyous feelings and sublime hopes to thousands. Let us hope that such harmless if not bene¬ ficent doctrines are destined for universal ac¬ ceptance, and that those bright times, foretold by Shelley, are not far distant, when “ Not gold, not blood, the altar dowers, But votive blooms and symbol flowers.” \ siv TYPICAL BOUQUETS. TYPICAL BOUQUETS. In the East, a bouquet of token flowers, in¬ geniously selected and put together for the pur¬ pose of communicating in secret and expressive language the sentiments of the heart, is called a salaam , or salutation.Written love-letters would often be inadequate to convey an idea of the feelings which are thus expressed through the medium of flowers. Thus orange- blossoms signify hope; inarygolds, despair; sunflowers, constancy ; roses, beauty; and tulips represent the complaints of infidelity. This hieroglyphic language is known oniy to the lover and his mistress. In order to envelop it more completely in the veil of secrecy, the sig¬ nifications of the different flowers are changed in conformity with a preconcerted plan : for ex¬ ample, the rose is employed to express the idea which would otherwise be attached to the ama¬ ranth ; the carnation is substituted for the pomegranate blossom, and so on. Although, in these typical bouquets, much must depend on the character of the messages intended to be conveyed ; upon the variety of the flowers obtainable; and upon the ingenuity of the sender—the following few simple exam- nles of floral epistles may not prove unac¬ ceptable : EXAMPLE BOUQUETS. xv EXAMPLE BOUQUETS. I,—May Maternal Love protect your Youth in Innocence and Joy. Moss. Maternal love Bearded Crepis, or Juniper .... Protection. Primroses. Youth. Daisy. Innocence. Wood Sorrel. J°y- II. —Your Friendliness bids me hope to obtain your Love. Ivy or Acacia, Friendship. Snowdrop or Hawthorn, Mope. Myrtle or Rose, Love. III. —Let the Bonds of Marriage unite us. Blue Convolvulus, Bonds. Linden-leaf or Yellow Ivy, Mairi many. A few Straws, Union. IV. —Keep your Promise to meet me Plum blossom .... Sweet Pea. Convolvulus. Forget-me-not .... to-nicht. Do not Forget. . Keep your promise. . A meeting. Night. . Do not forget. V.—A Red Rose, 1 love you. VI.—By Foresight you will surmount your Difficulties. Holly, Foresight. Mistletoe, You will surmount your Diffi¬ culties. VII.—To Love is a Pleasure, a Happiness, which intoxicates ; to cease to Love is ceasing to exist; it is to have bought this sad Truth ; that Innocence is Falsehood, Love an Art, and Happiness a Dream. Pink . Wood Sorrel or Ivy Sweet Sultan Vine-leaf Pure love. Joy. Happiness. Intoxication. Pink, reversed . Lucern, reversed Wlieat-ear . A dead leaf Nightshade Daisy . Bugloss Cessation of love. Cessation of life. A purchase. Sadness. Truth. Innocence. Falsehood. xvi EXAMPLE BOUQUETS. Myrtle . Love. Acanthus.An art. l'oppy. Sleep. Till.—B eauty - , Friendship, and Love. Bose—Ivy—Myrtle. IX.—Candor and Deference are Charms in the Young. White Violet—Small Bindweed—Asiatic Ranunculus— Rosebud. X.—Your perfect Goodness, excellent Qualities, and Kini> NESS CONSTRAIN ME TO DECLARE MY REGARD. \ Strawberry—Mignonette—Blue Bell—Tulip. XI.— Folly produces chagrin and painful Reflections. Columbine—Mary gold—Pheasant’s Eye. XII— Delicacy and Simplicity add Charms to lasting Beautt. Blue Bottle—Dog Rose-Garden Wall Flower. XIII. —Forget-me-not ! in that rests my hope for the return of Happiness. Forget-me-not—Hawthorn—Lily of the Valley. XIV. —May Good Luck attend my Attachment, and secure OUR MUTUAL IlArPINF,SS IN THE BONDS OF LOVE. White Heath—Scarlet Ipomea—Sweet Sultan—Honeysuckle, XV.—Youthful love is timid, and yields but transient Pleasure. Lilac, purple and White—Marvel of Peru—Spiderwort. XVI.—Pleasant Remembrances console us in the silence op Solitude. Periwinkle—Snowdrop—White Rose—Common Heath. XVII.—Confidence in Success overcomes every Obstacle. Hollyhock—Ilepatica—Rest Harrow. XVIII.—The Loveliness and purity of early Youth Produce Joy. Pompon Rose—Star of Bethlehem—Primrose—Wood Sorrel. XIX.—Your Modesty and Amiabii.ity inspire me with thb warmest Affection. Sweet-scented Violet—White Jasmine—Moss Rose. LANGUAGE AND of Jflofom. ACACIA, YELLOW. Acacia Farnesiana. . . Class 17; Order 10 FRIENDSHIP—SECRET LOVE. Thou, like a star-flower in the wood, Thy modest charms art hiding : Content with humbly doing good, And in God’s love abiding. But though the world observes thee not, In one fond heart thou’rt treasured : And bright indeed must be the lot That shares a love unmeasured. The tree generally called the Acacia is the llobinia, or pseudo-acacia; but the veritable 2 (17) 18 LANGUAGE AND symbol of friendship is the honey-locust tree, or three-thorned acacia. A native of North Ame¬ rica, remarkable for its brilliant green foliage-, it has been consecrated by the Indians. The blossoms are small, and too nearly the color of the leaves to produce any striking effect; but the pod which succeeds them being upwards of a foot in length, and of a dark brown color, contrasts curiously with the vivid hue of the foliage. The trunk and branches are armed' with large red thorns, which present a very sin¬ gular appearance. The Indians point their arrows with these thorns, and make their bows of this tree’s incorruptible Avood, Avhilst they use its blossoms as token flowers, to tell what words can ne’er express so well. 5 ’ The Rose Acacia is adopted as the type of elegance because ‘‘ the art of the toilet cannot produce anything fresher or more elegant than the attire of this pretty shrub. Its drooping branches, its gay green, its beautiful bunches of pink flowers, resembling boAvs of ribbon—- all give it the appearance of a fashionable female in her ball dress.” Under its name of locust-tree, Holmes uses the acacia as a symbol of mourning: “When damps beneath and storms above Have bowed these fragile towers, Still o’er the grave yon locust-grove Shall swing its Orient flowers.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 19 ACACIA, ROSE. PLATONIC LOVE. Lo, others kneel before thy shrine With Passion’s words of fire; But better far such love as mine. That never feels desire. To pray for thee at twilight hour, To dream of thee at night, To link thy frame with every flower— These make my love’s delight. And years may roll, and time may vnar The beauty of thy brow, But thou, however distant far, Wilt be as dear as now. From passion and its stains refined, My love is deep and pure; Shall it not, born of heart and mind, As long as these endure? 20 LANGUAGE AND ACANTHUS. THE ARTS. “ A woven acanthus wreath divine.” Tennyson. The Acanthus is a native of hot countries, and, being unable to endure the variableness of this climate, is only permitted entrance into this floral bouquet on account of its classic and artistic associations. This elegant representative of the arts was a great favorite with the Greeks, who frequently made use of its graceful form for architectural and other ornamental purposes: as is well known, it makes the principal decoration of the Corinthian column ; the idea of which is reported by tradition—that unwearied tattler—to have been suggested to Callimachus, a famous archi¬ tect, by the accidental sight of a basket over¬ grown by acanthus with a tile on it. The story tells us that a basket containing some treasured relics, and covered with a tile, had been placed by mourning friends upon a young girl’s grave, as a kind of memento mori; an acanthus plant grew up beneath the basket, and its leaves spread all round, but, impeded by the tile, curled gracefully back. The architect, passing by the tomb, was attracted by the ele¬ gance of the untrained decoration, and, having POETRY OF FLOWERS. 21 some columns to design for an edifice in Corinth, imitated the fornj of the basket for the pillars, and formed the capitals in the manner of the curved acanthus. Thus, indeed, Yitruvius re¬ cords the legend. ALMOND-TKEE—AMYGDALUS COMMUNIS. INDISCRETION—THOUGHTLESSNESS. This fragrant forerunner of spring has been adopted as the emblem of indiscretion , on ac¬ count of its flowering so early that its beautiful pink blossoms are frequently prevented from fructifying, because of the injury they sustain from the frost. With Oriental nations, however, the almond has a very different but quite as appropriate signification. The Mahommedans regard its flowers as typical of hope, because they bloom on the bare branches. Moore, with his usual felicity of expression, has thus availed himself of this pretty allegory : “ The dream of a future happier hour That alights on misery’s brow, Springs out of the silvery almond flower That blooms on a leafless bough.” 22 LANGUAGE AND Pleasant a sight to our eyes as is this tree in blossom, in Oriental climes it is seen in far greater perfection. It grows to between twenty and thirty feet high, and the blooms spread from one end of the young branches to the other, as thickly as they can grow, and before a leaf is to be seen. The ancient fabulists, who had some beautiful legend to account for all the phenomena of na¬ ture, ascribed the origin of the ahnond-tree to Phillis, a young and beautiful Thracian queen,- who became enamored of and wedded Demo- phoon, the son of Theseus and Phaedra, and who, on his return from the siege of Troy, had been cast by a storm upon the shores of Thrace. Recalled to Athens by his father’s death, the royal consort promised to return in a month, but failing to do so, the afflicted bride gradually lost all hopes of seeing him again, and, after several unfruitful visits to the sea-shore, died of grief and was transformed into an almond- tree. After three months’ absence the truant husband returned, and, overwhelmed with sor¬ row, offered a sacrifice by the sea-shore to ap¬ pease the manes of his luckless bride. Loving even in death, she appeared to respond to his repentance ; for the almond-tree, into which she was metamorphosed, immediately put forth flow¬ ers, as if to prove by one last effort the un- ehangeableness of her affection. POETRY OK FLOWERS. 23 In former times an abundance of blossom on the almond-tree was regarded as the omen of a fruitful season. AMARANTH. PRINCE’S FEATHER. Amaranthus . Class 19; Order 5. IMMORTALITY—UNFADING. Oh, not for the hue of thy roseate cheek, Nor the dimpled rubies that smile and speak; Oh, not for the flash of thy glowing eye, Nor the eloquent sound of thy soft, low sigh, Do I love thee, bright being of passion and grace: ’Tis the soul, the sweet soul in thy beautiful face, The spirit immortal, the charm that ne’er dies, That from death and the gloom of the grave will arise ; It is this that enthrals me : and thou unto me Art the embryo, only, of what thou shalt be: For thy mortal shall die; but the beaut}' I love Hath an endless existence and progress above ! Most poetical of all flowers in meaning is the Amaranth. Christened by the Greeks “never- fading,” because of the lasting nature of its bloom, it has been selected as the symbol of immortality, and as such it has ever been asso¬ ciated with death, significant that that is the portal through which the soul must pass in its search after the undying blossoms of eternity. 24 LANGUAGE AND The flowers, gathered when full grown, and dried in the shade, will preserve their beauty for years, particularly if they are not exposed to the sun. Homer describes the Thessalians as wearing crowns of these funereal flowers at the entomb¬ ment of Achilles; and Spenser and Milton both class the amaranth as amongst “ those flowers that sad embroidery wear,” the brilliancy of its glowing colors notwithstanding. The most ad¬ mired species of this plant is a native of the West Indies, and is called the ‘“tricolor,” on account of its variegated hues of crimson, green, and gold. One of the most popular species of the ama¬ ranth is the “Love-lies-bleeding.” The origin of this singular appellation is not known, but it has been suggested that the following verses of Moore’s account for it. The daughter of O’Con¬ nor is lamenting over the tomb of Connocht Moran : “A hero’s bride! this desert bower, It ill befits thy gentle breeding : And wherefore dost thou love this flower, To call ‘ my-love-lies-bleeding’ ? “ This purple flower my tears have nursed ; A hero’s blood supplied its bloom : I love it, for it was the first That grew on Connocht Moran’s tomb.” POETRY OP FLOWERS. 2S ANDROMEDA. / WILL YOU HELP ME? This delicate shrub was called Andromeda by the celebrated Linnaeus, after the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiope, the .story of whose expo¬ sure at the water-side, and rescue from the sea- monster by Perseus, forms one of the most poetical episodes in the fourth book of Ovid’s “ Metamorphoses.” The illustrious Swede gives the following reason for applying the classic appellation to this pretty pink marsh-flower: “As I contemplated it, I could not help thinking of Andromeda, as described by the poets—a vir¬ gin of most exquisite beauty and unrivalled charms. The plant is always fixed in some turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet as the fresh water does the root of the- plant. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through ex¬ cessive affliction, so does the rosy-colored flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. At length comes Perseus, in the shape of summer, dries up the surrounding waters and destroys the monster.” To German florigraphists this flower typifies the question, For whom do you wait? 20 LANGUAGE AND ANEMONE, WIND-FLOWER. Anemone Virginiana . Class 13 ; Order 13 SICKNESS— FRAILTY--WITHERED HOPES—FORSAKEN —ANTICIPATION. Life’s frosts thou art too frail to bear, And in its storms wouldst perish ; A floweret love alone should wear, And on his bosom cherish. Love, like a rock, should firmly stand, And hang its shelter o’er thee; While only zephyrs soft and bland Dispense their sweets around thee. Some assert that this flower derives its name from anemos, the Greek word for wind, and say thence came our poetical appellation of “ the wind-flower.” The ancients, however, tell us that the anemone was formerly a nymph beloved by Zephyr, and that Flora, jealous of her beauty, banished her from her court, and finally trans¬ formed her into the flower that now bears her name. Another oft-tokl talc states that the anemone sprang from the blood of Adonis, com¬ bined with the tears which Venus shed over his body. The Greek poet Bion, in his ‘‘ Lament for Adonis,” sighs for POETRY OF FLOWERS. 27 “ Thai wretched queen, Adonis bewailing, For every drop of blood lets fall a tear; Two blooming flowers the mingled streams disclosed : Anemone the tears; the blood, a rose.” Ovid’s account of the metamorphosis is that Venus, lamenting over the bleeding body of her lover, endeavored to perpetuate his memory and commemorate her grief by transforming his blood into a flower. Some writers say this delicate blossom re¬ ceived its name of the wind-flower because many of the species grow on elevated places, where they are exposed to the rough embraces of old Boreas. “ Coy anemone, that ne’er uncloses Her lips until they’re blown on by the wind.” It would certainly seem more characteristic for these frail blossoms to open their lips to the kisses of the sun, for, when he shines, “Thick strewn in woodland bowers, Anemones their stars unfold.” The anemones are natives of the East, whence their roots were originally brought. Their spe¬ cies are very numerous and have been much improved and diversified by culture. The Avise Egyptians, who beheld a deep signi- 28 LANGUAGE AND fication in all the productions of nature, re garded the anemones as the emblem of sickness , probably on account of its noxious properties. In some countries people have such a prejudice against the flowers of the field anemone that they believe they so taint the air, that those who inhale it often incur severe illness. In this country the buds of the wood-anemone are generally of a snowy whiteness ; but some¬ times a delicate flush, like the blush on a maiden’s cheek, tinges their exquisitely formed petals, and sometimes they are found colored a rosy red. The best known species of this flower, the wood-anemone, grows very far north, and is common in the woods of North America. They are considered very unwholesome for cattle, and two kinds which grow on this continent are said to prove fatal to animals who eat them. Miss Pratt has favored us with these appro¬ priate lines to wood anemones: “Flowers of the wild wood ! your home is there, ’Mid all that is fragrant, all that is fair; Where the wood-mouse makes his home in the earth Where gnat and butterfly have their birth; Where leaves are dancing over each flower, Fanning it well in the noontide hour, And the breath of the wind is murmuring low, As branches are bending to and fro. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 29 “ Sweet are the memories that yc bring Of the pleasant leafy woods of spring; Of the wild bee, so gladly humming, Joyous that earth’s young flowers are coming; Of the nightingale and merry thrush, Cheerfully singing from every bush ; And the cuckoo’s note, when the air is still, Heard far away on the distant hill. * * * * * * * * * v Pure are the sights and sounds of the wild Ye can bring to the heart of Nature’s child; Plain and beautiful is the story That ye tell of your Maker’s glory; Useful the lesson that ye bear, That fragile is all, however fair ; While ye teach that time is on his wing, As ye open the blossoms of every spring.” APPLE, THORN. DECEITFUL CHARMS. I love thee not. I will not lay One offering on thy shrine, Though others their devotions pay As though thou wert divine. 80 LANGUAGE AND I love thee not. I know deceit And guile are in thy heart,— That all thy words, so soft and sweet, Are but the tricks of art. I love thee not. The simplest mind Is dearer far to me, (Though far less brilliant and refined), Than ever thine can be! APPLE-BLOSSOM. PREFERENCE. , The Apple-blossom is styled the emblem of preference, because, not only is it a very lovely flower, but, as the predecessor of fine and use¬ ful fruit, it may be preferred to the rose itself. The apple singly is deemed typical of temptation, undoubtedly from the curious legend which con¬ nects it with the first transgression and fall of man, a legend which figures alike in most of the ancient mythologies of which any vestiges are extant. Roasted apples formed an important item in the delicious compound which, under the title of wassail-bowl, was such a famed beverage POETRY OF FLOWERS. 31 with our ancestors. The ludicrous practice, of “bobbing” for apples on Allhallow-e’en, on All Saints Day, and at other specified times, is nearly obsolete. Formerly, the first day of November was dedicated to the titular saint of fruit and seeds, and was called La Mas TJbhal , or the “day of the apple.” This name being pro¬ nounced lamasool. got con upted into Lamb’s Wool, the name given in some parts to a bowl of spiced ale containing roasted apples, and which is drunk on the last night in October. An ancient charm practised by village maidens, was, on a certain particularized night, to take a can¬ dle and go alone into a room, look into a look¬ ing-glass, and eat an apple in front of it, when she would behold in the glass the reflection of her husband to be, peeping over her shoulder. The Romans highly valued this tree for its ornamental effect, deeming, and with justice, that the earliness and beauty of its blossoms, as also the brilliant hues of its fruit, rendered it a desirable addition to the splendor of their gardens. L. E. L. did not overlook the beauty of the apple-blossom, as these lines testify : “Of all the months that fill the year, Give April’s month to me, For eaj-th and sky are then so filled With sweet variety. 32 LANGUAGE AND “ The apple-blossom’s shower of pearl. Though blent with rosier hue— As beautiful as woman’s blush, As evanescent too. “ On every bough there is a bud, In every bud a flower ; But scarcely bud or flower will last Beyond the present hour. “ Now comes a shower-cloud o’er the sky, Then all again sunshine ; Then clouds again, but brightened with The rainbow’s colored line. “ Ay, this, this is the month for me ! I could not love a scene Where the blue sky was always blue, The green earth always green.” AEB1JTUS. THEE ONLY DO I LOVE. The Arbutus , or strawberry-tree, as it is fre¬ quently called in England and France, because of the resemblance of its fruit to a strawberry, is one of those rare and delightful objects on OLEANDER. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 33 which Nature, with a lavish profusion, showers at one time bud, blossom, and fruit. This beautiful symbol of inseparable love re¬ quires a whole twelvemonth to perfect its fruit, so that in the autumn of the year, when other trees and flowers are shedding their withered leaves and petals on the ground, the lovely ar¬ butus may be seen, with its rich red strawberry¬ like fruit—clusters of waxen-hued blossoms, their vine-colored stems, and its green leaves, resembling those of the bay—all flourishing in unstinted abundance, thus realizing the poetic fiction of fruit and flowers growing together. Surely this sweet emblem of a sweeter theme passed through the mind of Thomson, when, in his “ Seasons,” he talked of how “ Great Spring, before, Greened all the year; and fruit and blossoms blushed In social sweetness on the self-same bough.” 3 34 LANGUAGE AND ASH TREE. Fraxinns . Class 21; Oi do 2. There are six varieties natives to our forests. It is a handsome, useful, and in autumn gorgeous tree. GRANDEUR. Costly the jewels that gleam on thy hreast Beautiful maiden ! say, art thou blest? Rich are the robes that envelop thy form— Beats there beneath them a heart that is Avarm ? Beautiful maiden ! slaves wait thy command— Leadest thou them with a lenient hand? Grandeur is round thee, Avherever thou art— Oh say, is there brightness like this in thy heart? If so, may no sorrows of mine ever dim The joys that are mantling thy cup to its brim ; In the shade of my lot, I’ll adore thee afar— The worm on the earth may look up to the star ! ASTER. Aster , Chinensis . • • Class 19; Order 2. afterthought—love of variety. “ Like a pleasant thought, When such are wanted.”—A non. The Aster, or Starwort , represents an exceed ingly numerous family, which derives its name P015TRY OF FLOWERS. from the Greek word Aster , signifying star. It is said to be emblematical of after-thought, be¬ cause it begins to blow when other flowers are scarce. “ It is like an afterthought of Flora’s, who smiles at leaving us.” The different varieties of this flower are very numerous ; and, being very showy, of almost every color, and those colors remarkably vivid, they make a brilliant figure in our gardens in autumn. The general favorite is the China aster, which is larger and handsomer than any of the others. This flower is much admired by the Chinese, who make considerable use of it in the decora¬ tions of their gardens, arranging it so as to rival the richest patterns of Persian carpets, or the most curious figures that can be devised by the artist in filigree. The French are fond of this flower, and from the resemblance which its blossoms bear in shape, although on a much larger scale, to the daisy, call it La Reine Marguerite , or Queen daisy. The star-flower, as the Germans call the aster, is employed by that people as a village oracle, after the manner described under the heading of daisy. Gbthe, in his great tragedy of “ Faust,” makes a beautiful use of this superstition. It is in the well-known garden scene, where Faust is walking Avith the young and guileless Margue¬ rite—a scene that Retzsch has chosen for his 36 LANGUAGE AND wildly-suggestive pencil, and L. E. L. for her plaintive pen to reproduce. The poor, lovelost girl gathers a flower, and, according to her sim¬ ple method of divination, proceeds to pluck oil the florets, alternately repeating the words, “ He loves me,” “ he loves me not.” On arriv¬ ing at the last leaf, she joyously exclaims, “ He loves me!” and Faust, in spite of himself, overpowered by her childish innocence, breaks forth, “ Yes ! he loves thee : let this floral token be a decree of Heaven !” Dr. Zerffi, in his valuable notes to his edition of “Faust,” says, “It is a general custom for lovers to consult flowers, as a sort of oracle, as to whether their love is returned or not. The plan adopted is simple enough. A star-flower, which seems to be the favorite, is selected, and the person consulting it repeats the words “ Er liebt mich von Herzen Hit Schmerzen, Ja—oder nein.” A single leaf is pulled off at each recurrence of the words ja and nein , and the answer of the oracle is yes or no, as ja or nein is pronounced on pulling the last of the leaves.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 37 BALM OF GILEAD. Populus Balsamifera . Class 21 ; Order 13. The Balm of Gilead is distinguished for its re¬ sinous and aromatic buds, which are useful for vulnerary application. RELIEF—I AM CURED. My dream is o’er, my heart’s at rest; No idle hopes its peace molest; Never again will love of mine Be cast, rejected, from thy shrine. It is not pride that bids me wear A quiet and untroubled air; My smiles are no poor tricks of art—• They speak the sunshine of my heart. Farewell! Pursue in peace thy way; I care not where thy feet may stray; No idle griefs my peace molest,— My love is o’er, my heart’s at rest. 38 LANGUAGE AND BALSAM. Impatiens Class 5 ; Order i. Common Wild Balsam ; Impatiens noli me tan- gere —Touch-me-not. Grows wild by brooks, and bears an orange-colored flower, stem tall and much branched. IMPATIENCE. I cannot, will not longer brook Thy cold delay, thy prudent look. Dost love me? Share at once my fate, Be it or bright or desolate. I will abide no half-way love, Nor wait for prudence ere I move. One more repulse, and I depart! Come now, or never, to my heart. BARBERRY. Berberris Class 6 ; Order 1. This graceful shrub is well known. It is an ornament to the shrubbery, and is much esteemed for its fruit. It bears a pretty yellow flower. ILL TEMPER—PETULANCE. That frown but ill becomes thy face; That pout hath spoilt thy lips’ sweet grace; i'OETRY OF FLOWERS. 39 Those peevish tones disturb the ear Accustomed thy soft notes to hear. Havel offended? Gently chide, And I thine anger will abide; Will kneel repentant at thy feet, Until my pardon is complete. Say, dost thou not this mood regret? Thou dost! Forgive, then, and forget. BASIL-OCYMUI BASILICUM. HATRED. This plant derives its name from a Greek word signifying royal. It is generally called “ sweet basil and why so odoriferous an herb should have become the symbol of hatred it is difficult to imagine. Some say because, at times, the ancients represented Poverty by the figure of a female covered with rags, and seated by a plant of basil. These sweet-scented herbs are chiefly natives of the East Indies, where their seeds are deemed efficacious against the poison of serpents. In Persia, where it is called rayhan , "The basil tuft that waves Its fragrant blossom over graves,” is generally found in churchyards. 40 LANGUAGE AND In a beautiful poem by Shelley, this plant is alluded to as a token flower: “Madonna, wherefore hast thou sent to me Sweet basil and mignonette? Embleming love and health, which never yet In the same wreath might be. Alas, and they are wet! Is it with thy kisses or thy tears ? For never rain or dew Such fragrance drew From plant or flower.” BAY LEAF, BAY OR LAUREL TREE. Laurus . Class 9 ; Order 1. The Greek fable relates, that Daphne was trans¬ formed into the Bay tree, and that Apollo, her lover, crowned his head with the leaves. I CHANGE BUT IN DEATH. Though fate ordains that we must part, And each fond tie doth sever, Yet still thou reignest in my heart, To be dethroned never! POETRY OF FLOWERS. 41 Thy resting-place it still shall be, Should grief or care assail thee ; And when thy summer-friends all flee, This refuge ne’er shall fail thee. Thy memory, fondly there enshrined, The dews of thought shall nourish ; And from the dross of earth refined, The plant of love shall flourish. BINDWEED; CONVOLVULUS. Convolvulus . Class 5 ; Order 1 . HUMILITY.—NIGHT. Like thy Saviour, maid, thou art— Humble, lowly, meek of heart; Fairest of the flowers of earth, Yet unconscious of thy worth. Ever thus pursue thy way, Ever thus thy Lord obey; Dearest of all charms to me Is thy sweet humility. “ The night Of cloudless climes and starry skies,” Never had a move beautiful emblem of its majestic loveliness assigned to it than when the 42 LANGUAGE AND florigraphists chose the Convolvulus foi its re¬ presentative in their science of sweet things. The Major Convolvulus, symbolic of extin¬ guished hopes , is a native of America; and the Minor Convolvulus, typifying repose , of Southern Europe: the flowers of this latter variety are sometimes pure white, but more frequently are variegated with blue and yellow, or blue and white : one very beautiful kind is a bright blue, fading, by delicate gradations, to a pure white in the centre, and resembles that blue atmo¬ sphere, relieved by fleecy clouds, when, as Keats says, “ On high, Through clouds of fleecy white laughs the cerulean sky.” Nor is the form of this flower less lovely than its color, either when spread out in full beauty to catch the kisses of its bosom lord, the sun, or when, at the stealthy approach of that star-covered dame of which it is the peerless symbol, it droops its graceful neck and shuts its bright blue eye. In the suburbs of the Eternal City—the seven- hilled Rome—different species of the convolvu¬ lus fling their many-hued wreaths round the hedges, in some parts decorating both sides of the road for several miles with a gallant array of bright leaves and brighter flowers, and the POETRY OF FLOWERS 43 Italians, who passionately love the beauteous plant, are fond of ornamenting their verandahs with its clinging wreaths. The Dwarf Convol¬ vulus, used to typify the axiom that love levels all, is also a native of the southern portions of Europe; its fragile blossoms are of ‘‘ rosy red, Love’s proper hue.” The English wild varieties of this most grace¬ ful of all plants are commonly called “ bind¬ weeds,” and of these the Field Convolvulus is the best known. Its sweet-scented blossoms, which emit an almond-scented odor, are mostly striped with white and rose-color; but some¬ times are of a yellow hue ; its delicate green leaves are very slight and fragile, giving the plant a general appearance of frailty. And this, added to the knowledge that its flowers last only one day, renders it a very appropriate em¬ blem of fleeting joys. It is a great favorite with little country lasses, who love to twine a wreath of its delicate leaves and blossoms round their hats, or twist it about their flaxen tresses. 44 LANGUAGE AND BLUE BELL. Campanula . Class 5 ; Order 1. Six species are native to America. They have blue or white nodding flowers, and are all beautiful. CONSTANCY. They bid me forget him ! as if I could tear From my heart the dear image so long cherished there; Like a rose in the wilderness, blooming and free, Like a rose in the desert that love is to me. I brood o’er my thoughts in the stillness of night; I cannot forget him— would not, if I might! ’Tis the star that illumines my desolate way, And gives it the glory and brightness of day. C. A. Fillebrown POETRY OP FLOWERS. 45 BOX. Buxus . Class 21; Order 4. There are two kinds of Box,—the Arborescent, which is twelve or sixteen feet high ; and the Dwarf, which is used as a border for flower¬ beds. STOICISM—CONSTANCY. I ne’er will weep again ! I will meet fate with an unblonching eye; For better far in proud contempt to die, Than idly talk of pain. Can I not bear all things ? Who talks of weakness to a soul like mine ? Love, hope, pity, sorrow I resign, And all that fortune brings. In lonely strength I stand, Unmoved though earthquakes open at my feet; Though storms of malice on my bosom beat, I can their rage withstand. 46 LANGUAGE AND BROOM. Genista . Class 17; Order 10 NEATNESS—HUMILITY - . I love to see thy gentle hand Dispose, with modest grace, The household things around thy home, And “each thing in its place.” And then thy own trim, modest form, Is always neatly clad ; Thou sure wilt make the tidiest wife That ever husband had. No costly splendors needest thou To make thy home look bright; For neatness on the humblest spot Can shed a sunny light. The Broom is a very ornamental shrub, with few leaves, but an abundance of brilliant and elegant flowers. There are three species with white and one with violet-colored bloom, all the others having yellow blossoms. Many a plaintive tale is associated with the broom; many a lament has been sung of the sad thoughts engendered by lingering, loving memories of “ the bonny broom” by wanderers far off from their native land. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 47 The Scotch, ever wakeful to the beauties of their native home, have long recognised the poetry of this picturesque plant, and in their songs and ballads often chant its praise: “ 0, the broom, the bonny, bonny broom, The broom of the Cowden Knowes; For sure so soft, so sweet a bloom Elsewhere there never grows.’' Burns lauds it, and well he might, for doubt¬ less he had ofttimes seen it waving high over the headlong torrents of his darling Scotia, or spreading a gorgeous golden canopy down the sides of his native mountains. Hark to his paean: “ Their groves of sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon, Whose bright beaming summers exalt the perfume; Far dearer to me yon lone glen of green breckan, Wi’ the burn stealing under the long yellow broom. “Far dearer to me are yon humble broom bowers, Where the bluebell and gowan lurk lowly, unseen; And where, lightly tripping amang the sweet flowers, A-listening the linnet, oft wanders my Jean.” Some florigraphists have deemed the broom emblematic of ardor , doubtless from the well- authenticated fact that the spadix acquires so 48 LANGUAGE AND strong a heat as to be painful to the hand when touched. There is one great charm, seldom commented upon, about this flower,— “The golden broom, Which scents the passing gale,”— and that is its delicious aroma. BURDOCK. Arctium . Class 18 ; Order 1. This is known by its coarse, broad leaf, and round, bur-like blossom. It is used in alle¬ viating pain. IMPORTUNITY. Op thy teasings and pleadings I’m heartily sick ; I’m sure if I loved thee I’d tell thee so quick. What use or advantage In wooing like this ? When a woman says “No !” Do you think she means “ Ye*!" POETRY OF FLOWERS. 49 The longer thou suest The colder I grow; There—take my last answer; Cansthearit? ’Tis— No! BUTTERCUPS. Ranunculus, acris . . . Class 13; Order 3. RICHES.—MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD. Beautifully does the poet Robert Browning call these emblems of riches li the buttercups , the little children’s dower.” Of all the mingled sad and sweet memories of childhood, what is recalled more vividly than that feeling of being the possessor of boundless wealth, as, amid the glowing fields of gold which these wild flowers spread around us, we have—to quote from Eliza Cook— “ Stood like an elf in fairy lands, With a wide and wistful stare, As a maiden over her casket stands, ’Mid heaps of jewels beneath her hands, Uncertain which to wear.” 4 60 LANGUAGE AND CALLA. Arum Ethiopicum. . . Class 20; Order 13, This is a native of Ethiopia, and is much es¬ teemed for its beautiful snow-white calyx, broad, green leaves, and pheasant perfume. MODESTY.—MAGNIFICENT BEAUTY. The blue bell by the meadow rill Is not more fair than thou, With thy downcast and thoughtful eye, Thy pure and gentle brow. All sweet and holy dreams seem blent Within tby maiden heart; How delicate in every look, In every thought thou art! The blush so frequent on thy cheek, Thy meek and quiet air, Thy low and gentle accents,—all Thy purity declare. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 61 CALYCANTHUS. Cal. Floridus .... Class 12 ; Order 5. Carolina Allspice. Odoriferous and spicy shrubs; flowers dark brown, drying to olive green. COMPASSION.-BENEVOLENCE. Thy name is heard in crowds— They call thee good and great; The brightness of the sunset clouds Seems showered upon thy fate. Where’er thy pathway leads They strew it o’er with flowers— Emblems of generous deeds Thy heart profusely showers; Oh, good and great for ever be— Worthy the praise they yield to thee! CAMELLIA JAPONICA. SUPREME LOVELINESS. Everybody will willingly acknowledge the Camellia, or Rose of Japan, to be one of the most lovely floral beauties ever introduced into 52 LANGUAGE AND this country; but, alas! despite its supreme loveliness , this flower, unlike its European rival queen, the rose, has no fragrance! This beautiful blossom, expressing Thou art my heart's sovereign , was first introduced into Europe in 1639, and derives its name from a Jesuit monk, Joseph Kamel, or as it is gene¬ rally Latinized into, Camellus. Did Jean Ingelow have these magnificent floral pets in her poet mind when she sang: “ These are buds that fold within them Closed and covered from our sight, Many a richly-tinted petal, Never looked on by the light” ? And did this same gifted poetess mean that it was the richly-tinted petals of these stars of evening, which uttered their “songs without words” to some admired human flower, at those intoxicating hours when a sound of revelry was faintly heard floating out of the heavily scented ball-room into the still more fragrant silence of the conservatory? “And that they whose lips do utter Language such as bards have sung, Though their speech shall be to many As an unknown tongue.” These lovely flowers, as Mrs. Sigourney says, “Put forth such blaze of beauty as translates To dullest hearts their dialect of love.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. S3 CHAMOMILE . Anthemis nobilis . . . Class 18; Order 2. This plant has a white or yellow flower, and is much loved for its fragrance : herbaceous. ENERGY IN ADVERSITY. Onward ! Hath earth’s ceaseless change Trampled on thy heart ? Faint not, for that restless range Soon will heal the smart. Trust the future—time will prove Earth hath stronger, truer love. * -x- * -x- * -x- * Bless thy God, the heart is not An abandoned urn, Where, all lonely and forgot, Dust and ashes mourn; Bless Him, that his mercy brings Joy from out its withered things. Mrs. Case. Like the meek chamomile, it grew Luxuriant from the bruise anew. Eastburne. 64 LANGUAGE AND CANDYTUFT. Iberis . Class 15; Order 1. This is a pretty garden flower, bearing clusters of small white blossoms, and forms a very good bor¬ der to a flower garden. INDIFFERENCE. Take back tby flowers and billet-doux, Tby sonnets and thy rhymes; To burn them all I’ve half resolved A dozen of different times. So much waste paper lying round— So many withered herbs— I’m sure the very sight of them My quietude disturbs. Thou knowest well I little care For gifts like these from thee; 'Tis love alone gives worth to such— And thou hast none from me. 'Twas the doubt that thou wert false that wrung my heart with pain ; But now I know thy perfidy, I shall be well again ; I would proclaim thee as thou art, but every maiden knows That she who chides her lover, forgives him ere he goes. Bryant. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 55 CANTERBURY BELL. Campanula, medium . . . Class 5 ; Order 1, ACKNOWLEDGMENT.-GRATITUDE. Ah, must I tell thee ? Well, I fear The die is surely cast That I am thine, and only thine, Beloved, to the last. I could not see thee, hear thy voice, Or look upon thy brow, Nor fail to love thee tenderly— My heart must break or bow. Although the genus of Campanulacece, or bell-flowers, is deemed emblematic of constancy , each of the well-known members of the grace¬ ful family has its own particular meaning. The Canterbury Bell, so styled because of its profusion in the neighborhood of that city, is one of the most known of the race. Flori- graphists have variously considered it as the symbol of both gratitude and constancy. Its deep purple bells are generally very large ; but there is a kind bearing bells of lesser size, and colored blue, purple or white. What a slight stretch of fancy is needed to imagine that these tiny trembling bells oft ring their mad merry 56 LANGUAGE AND peals for the benefit of such elves as lurk “ under the blossom that hangs on the bough,” and who, like their human brethren, “use flowers for their charactery!” A great favorite in this much-admired floral fraternity is the Venus's Looking-glass, selected as the type of flattery . The mirrors of the an¬ cients were always circular in form, and this plant is said to have received its popular coo-no- men from the resemblance of its round-shaped blossom to the form of a mirror, and beino- con¬ sidered extremely pretty, it was appropriated to the Goddess of Beauty. The classics, however, tell a different tale, and relate that Venus one day dropped one of her mirrors, which possessed the quality of beautifying whatever it reflected. A shepherd picked it up; but no sooner had he gazed upon it than ho forgot his favorite nymph and everything else he. should have? recollected, and, like another Narcissus, did nothing but ad¬ mire his own charms. Cupid discovered how affairs stood, and, fearful of the trouble that might arise from such a silly error, broke the mirror and transformed the fragments into this bright plant, which has ever since been called Venus’s Looking-glass. There is a very pretty campanula with deli¬ cate lilac-hucd flowers, that hang like bells from the stalk. It is called by the French “Nun of the fields,” probably in remembrance of some POETRY OF FLOWERS. 57 tender legend of the olden time; to us it is known as Agrimony , and as the type of thank¬ fulness, a feeling which every one must expe¬ rience, not only when gazing upon this sugges¬ tive “ floral apostle/' but when regarding any “Floral bough that swingeth And tolls its perfume on the passing air.” The delicate Harebell, the favorite of poets and the rival of the heather in the strong love of old Scotia, belongs to this timorous group of flowers, and, on account of its tender blossoms and slender, fragile-looking stem, has been made the emblem of love’s frailty. Its azure bell hangs lightly upon its shivering stalk and ‘‘rings to the mosses underneath.” With a mien so frail, one dreads every moment to be¬ hold its beauties rent to pieces and destroyed by the rude wind; and yet, so marvellously is this little floral elf constructed, that it will often successfully bi’ave the battle of the rough ele¬ ments and outlast the ruffian breeze that lays the monster oak of a thousand years shattered upon the soil. “ The choicest buds in Flora’s train let other fingers twine, Let others snatch the damask rose, or wreathe the eglantine; 5S LANGUAGE AND I’d leave the sunshine and parterre, and seek the woodland glade, To stretch me on the fragrant bed of bluebells in the shade. “ Let others cull the daffodil, the lily soft and fair, And deem the tulip’s gaudy cup most beautiful and rare ; But give to me, oh, give to me, the coronal that’s made Of ruby orchids mingled with the bluebells from the shade. “ The sunflower and the peony, the poppy bright and gay, Have no alluring charms for me: I’d fling them all away. Exotic bloom may fill the vase, or grace the high¬ born maid; But sweeter far to me than all are bluebells in the shade.” Eliza Cook. To me there’s a tone from the blue Bell-flower, With her blossoms so fresh when the storm is o’er, As she thanked the sun for his beams the while,— That flower has taught me to repay The friends who have cheered my stormy day, With a grateful brow and a sunny smile. Anon. POETRY OE FLOWERS. M> CARDINAL FLOWER. Lobelia . Class 5; Order 1. This is a beautiful flower. Flowers a rich scarlet; growing wild by brooks and ditches. DISTINCTION. Heaven grant thee, friend, a high soft star to be, Calm, still and bright, to trace thy way in heaven, And shed thy light o’er life’s tempestuous sea, Where human hearts like fragile barks are driven. ’Mid rocks and hidden shoals; A soul ’mid glorious souls— A small, pure star, within the glittering band, That high above the clouds, undimmed and grand In placid beauty, rolls, To herald on the weary to the land Where all is rest and peace; to guide the way To heaven’s unclouded day. 0, ask not a home in the mansions of pride, Where marble shines out in the pillars and walls; Though the roof be of gold, it is brilliantly cold, And joy may not be found in its torch-ligbted halls. Eliza Cook. 60 LANGUAGE AND CARNATION, YELLOW. Dianthus . Class 10 ; Order 2. This is a very rich and fragrant flower, growing some¬ times as large as a rose; chiefly red and white. DISDAIN.—PRIDE AND BEAUTY. It is not well amid thy race to move And shut thy heart to sympathy and love. It is not well to scorn inferior minds, And pass them by as though they were but hinds. Pride may become thee, as the veil a nun, But ah ! they love thee not whom thou dost shun ! And days may come to thee when human love Thou wilt desire all earthly things above; And thou wilt mourn that, in thy days of pride, Thou didst not win some true hearts to thy side; Wilt mourn that now, thy rank and wealth have flown, Thou’rt left to suffer and to die alone. What right have you, madam, gazing in your shining mirror daily, Getting so by heart your beauty, which all others must adore, While you draw the golden ringlets down your fingers, to vow gayly, You will wed no man that’s only good to God—and nothing more. Mrs. Browning. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 61 CATCHFLY. Silene . Glass 10; Order 3. There are nearly one hundred species of this flower. The most common one bears a pink blossom, and grows very tall; another has splendid flowers of bright scarlet. PRETENDED LOVE.—A SNARE. Op winning words, and tender looks, My artless friend, beware; Along the path of human life Lurks many a fatal snare. Trust seldom, and with much reserve ; Few merit gen’rous faith ; And should guile speak, oh give no heed To what the tempter saith. I fear some treacherous snare is laid Along thy flowery way ; Oh, be thou cautious—smiles may cheat And tender words betray. The fell Silene, and her sisters fair, Skilled in destruction, spread the viscous snare. Darwin. 62 LANGUAGE AND CEDAR TREE. Juniperus Virginia . . Class 20 ; Order 12, This tree is a native of North America, and is one of our prettiest evergreens. The wood is considered valuable for many purposes of building; will resist the attacks of insects. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.—THINK OF ME. Onward, for the truths of God ! Onward, for the right! Firmly let the field be trod, In life’s coming fight: Heaven’s own hand will lead thee on, Guard thee till thy task is done. •* * «- * * * -it Then will brighter, sweeter flowers, Blossom round thy way, Than e’er sprung in Hope’s glad bowers In thine early day— And the rolling years shall bring Strength and healing on their wing. Mrs. Case. The memory of our loves shall be As changeless as the cedar-tree. Anon. POK'i'KV OF FLOWERS. 63 CELANDINE. DECEPTIVE HOPES. This emblem of deceptive hopes derives its bo¬ tanical name from a Greek word signifying a swallow, because, say some, of its coming and going with that bird ; but our old florigraphists give a different reason; it was so called from an opinion which prevailed among the country people, that the old swallows used it to restore sight to their young when their eyes were out. The cheerful-looking little flower called the “lesser celandine,” deemed emblematical of joys to come, belongs to another floral family, quite distinct from the swallow-wort or major celandine. It resembles the buttercup in color, but is formed like a star, with heart-shaped leaves. The blossoms appear very early in spring, and at night and in wet weather fold up their petals, which instinctive precaution pro¬ bably preserves them from the destructive ele¬ ments. The glossy star-like blossoms and lustrous green leaves of this little flower seem to have rendered it a great favorite with Wordsworth, as he has repeatedly sung praises of its “ bright coronet 64 LANGUAGE AND “Pansies, lilies, kingeups, daisies, Let them live upon their praises ; Long as there’s a sun that sets, Primroses will have their glory ; Long as there are violets, They will have a place in story. There’s a flower that shall be mine, ’Tis the little celandine, if * * * * * # “ Ill befall the yellow flowers, Children of the flaring hours! Buttercups that will be seen, Whether we will see or no; Others, too, of lofty mien; They have done as worldlings do, Taken praise that should be thine ! Little humble celandine! “Ere a leaf is on the bush, In the time before the thrush Has a thought about its nest, Thou wilt come with half a call, Spreading out thy glossy breast Like a careless prodigal; Telling tales about the sun, When we’ve little warmth or none.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 65 CLEM ATIS—'VIRGIN’ S-BOWER. C. Virginica . Class 13 ; Order 7. MENTAL BEAUTY.—ARTIFICE. Excelling riches dwell within thy mind— Strong, fervent thought, and eloquence refined; Ideal beauty clusters round thy soul, While deep within, the waves of feeling roll. Religious fervor mingles with the grace Of playful fancy to illume thy face, And sparkling wit with graver sense unites, And fills thine eye with many changing lights. Oh, beautiful indeed, a mind like thine, And .well might angels bow at such a shrine; But man, weak man, oft passes idly by, To worship beauty that attracts the eye; While mental grace, a charm that ne’er can fade, Flies from the crowd, and dwells amid the shade. This pleasing flower, called frequently Vir- gin’s-bower or Traveller’s Joy, has unfortunately been adopted as the emblem of artifice , because, some say, beggars, in order to excite pity, make false ulcers—which, however, sometimes pro¬ duce real ones—in their flesh by means of its twigs. Its specific name of Clematis is derived from the Greek word klema , signifying a small branch of a vine, because most of these plants climb like a vine, rambling over everything. 5 LANGUAGE AND CLOVER. I PROMISE. The white Clover , or Shamrock, is the na¬ tional emblem of Ireland, and claims an equal place in history with England’s rose or Scot¬ land’s thistle. This symbol of their loved Eme¬ rald Isle is worn by Irishmen on the anniver¬ sary and in commemoration of St. Patrick s landing near Wicklow, in the beginning of the fourth century of the Christian era. The patron saint is reported to have explained to his disci¬ ples the mysteries of the Trinity by means ot a clover leaf, or trefoil. This emblem of promise has received innume¬ rable tokens of their regard for its good qualities from the poets of ill-fated Hibernia, but patriot¬ ism, more than love or friendship, is the sym¬ bolism portrayed. “Brave sons of Hibernia, your shamrocks display, For ever made sacred on St. Patrick s day, ’Tis a type of religion, the badge of our saint, And a plant of that soil which no venom can taint. n Though jovial and festive in seeming excess, We’ve hearts sympathetic of others- distress. May our shamrocks continue to flourish, and^provo An emblem of charity, friendship, and love.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 61 This little plant is endowed with several strange properties, not the least singular of which is the fact that if lands are turned up for the first time, and strewed with lime, white clover springs up in abundance, typifying to the Avondering farmer promise of future bounteous crops. No satisfactory solution of this circumstance has yet been propounded. The spontaneous coming up of this floAver is deemed an infallible indica¬ tion of good soil. Every one knoAvs all the wonderful things and brilliant future promised to the finder of a four-leaved shamrock! Dear reader, may you be that favorite of Fortune ! COREOPSIS. Cor. tinctoria .... Class 19 : Order 1. 7 This is a bright yellow flower, much cultivated in modern gardens. It continues in blossom from June till autumn. ALWAYS CHEERFUL. Lovely thou art, ay, lovely; And sorrow shared with thee, As if magician-changed, becomes A pleasure unto me. 68 LANGUAGE AND Life’s sky, though clothed with tempest-clouds, Grows bright when thou art nigh; And tears e’en turn to smiles beneath Thine angel-gifted eye. Mrs. Scott. “ The coreopsis, cheerful as the smile That brightens on the cheek of youth, and sheds A gladness o’er the aged.” CORIANDER. Coricmdrum . Class 5 ; Order 2 This has a fragrant, spicy seed, formerly much es. teemed by housewives and confectioners. CONCEALED MERIT. None know thy goodness. Like the fragrant mint. Hid in the umbrage of some lowly glen, Thy virtues lie concealed; and only love In its deep research can unlock the wealth Of thy benignant soul, and bring to light Its hidden jewels. The lone suffering heart, The humble poor, the sorrowing and forlorn, These know thy worth. Oh, is not fame like this lleyond the praises of a heartless world? POETRY OF FLOWERS. 6Q CORN. Zea mays ... . Class 20 ; Order 3. RICHES—ABUNDANCE. If thou’lt be mine, no want or care Shall e’er disturb thy life ; Thy days shall all be bright and fair, With worldly blessings rife. If thou’lt be mine, bright gems shall deck Thy snowy arms and breast, And pearls shall cluster round thy neck, And on thy forehead rest. If thou’lt be mine, what have I, love, That is not also thine ? 0 then my heart no longer prove, But say thou wilt be mine. Corn, which is the generic name applied to all kinds of grain suitable for food, is found in nearly every portion of the globe, and yet bo¬ tanists assure us that it is nowhere to be found in its primitive state, or that any of the various plants which, under the term of cerealia , are comprehended in this precious family, will flour¬ ish without culture. Corn, more particularly wheat, is the most valuable of all natural productions; and the ro LANGUAGE AND country whose soil bears plenteous crops of this in-every-way appropriate symbol of abundance , can afford 'to disregard the pretensions of all rival nations which found their claims to wealth merely upon the strength of their mineral riches. “ Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, bears A nodding garland of the ripened ears, Betokening prosperous days.” Ceres was the Goddess of Corn, as indeed her name signifies. She was usually represented as a beautiful woman, crowned with ears of corn, a wheatsheaf at her side, and the Cornucopia, or horn of plenty, in her hand. In commemo¬ ration of the abduction of her daughter Pro¬ serpine by Pluto, a festival was annually held about the beginning of harvest, and another celebration in remembrance of the search for her at the time of sowing the corn. During the search of Ceres for her daughter, the earth was left quite uncultivated; but on her return she gave instructions to her favorite, Triptole- mus, how to cultivate the ground and superin¬ tend corn and harvests. It has been said that an entire straw symbol¬ ized union , and the breaking of a straw rupture. The antiquity of this latter emblem is traced b*ck to a very early period. VIOI.ET. POETRY OP FLOWERS. 71 CORNFLOWER. DELICACY. Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell, If my lover loves me, and loves me well.” Anonymous. The classic cognomen of the bright blue Cornflower is Cyanus, and it was so named after a fair young devotee of Flora, who made gar¬ lands for public festivities out of various sorts of wild flowers, and w r ho lingered lovingly from morn till eve amid the corn, weaving into flow¬ ery coronals the blossoms that she had collected, accompanying her pleasant labor by singing the songs of her beloved fatherland. This flower, although now so common in our wheat fields, is thought not to be indigenous, but to have been brought from the East amongst some imported grain. Its deep blue hue is so deep that it almost approaches a purple, and as such the poet addresses it: “ There is a flower, a purple flower Sown by the wind, nursed by the shower, O’er which Love breathed a powerful spell, The truth of whispering hope to tell. Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell, If my lover loves me, and loves me well: So may the fall of the morning dew Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue.” 72 LANGUAGE AND COWSLIP. Dodecatheon . Class 5 ; Order J. WINNING GRACE.—YOUTHFUL BEAUTY. She grew in love. Around her infant home Life hung its summer hues, and very fair Was this wild earth to her. She learned to roam In artless radiance where the woodland air Showered trembling sweetness on the glancing streams, And stole its hue from sunset’s golden beams. She twined the orchis in her hazel hair, And stole the violets from the brook-side dell: The wilding race was her peculiar care, Her dearest music was the fox-glove’s bell, When the wild bee with his transparent wings Stirs the sweet air, and makes believe he sings. This elegant but fragile flower is one of those favorites which the olden poets so delighted to honor. The “ pale cowslip fit for maidens’ early bier,” is the most appropriate emblem for youthful beauty; and, under that typical mean¬ ing, is frequently found associated in the songs of our minstrels with all that is fair and frail. Milton takes advantage of the gracefulness of its drooping plume of blossoms, waving over their slender stem, to place upon the tomb of POETRY OF FLOWERS. 73 Lycidas, amid such gentle flowers as sad em¬ broidery wear, “Cowslips wan that hang the pensive head.” The cowslip belongs to the same genus as the primrose, and is supposed to have received its name from its soft velvety texture, resembling that of a lip. CROCUS. Crocus . Class 3 ; Order 1. CHEERFULNESS. Light to thy path, bright creature! I would charm Thy being, if I could, that it should be Ever as thou now dreamest, and flow on, Thus innocent and beautiful, to heaven. Willis. According to some authors, these bright little flowers, which “Come before the swallow dares, And take the winds of March with beauty,” derive their name from a Greek word signifying thread, from the fact of the thread or filament being in such request for saffron dye ; but the ancient legend affirms that it was styled Crocus after an unhappy lover, whom the gods in pity changed into the flower that now bears his name. It has teen observed of the rich tint obtained 74 LANGUAGE AND from this plant that there is nothing analogous to it in nature excepting the hue ot morn: “ How when the rosy morn begins to rise, And wave her saffron streamers through the skies.” Saffron was formerly much used in medicines, but modern discovery has enabled us to dismiss it from our pharmacopoeia, as also from the labo¬ ratory of the manufacturer’s chemist, more per¬ manent dyes having supplied its place. It still, however, retains its post at the confectioner’s, where its use must have been well known as long ago as Shakspeare’s days, since we find the clown in the “Winter’s Tale,” when enumerat¬ ing the articles he has for sale, speaks of “ saffron to "color the warden pies.” Virgil alludes to the fondness of bees for “the glowing crocus,” as also does Moore, in his “ Lalla liookh” : “ The busiest hive On Bela’s hills is less a.live When saffron-beds are full in flower, Than looked the valley in that hour.” Mrs. Ilowitt says of the purple crocus: “ Like lilac flame its color glows, Tender and yet so clearly bright That all for miles and miles about The splendid meadow shineth out; And far-off village children shout To see the welcome sight.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 75 THE CROWN IMPERIAL. Fritillaria, Imperialis . . Class 6 ; Order 1. POWER.—PRIDE OF BIRTH. This lily’s height bespeaks command, A fair, imperial flower, She seems designed for Flora’s hand, The sceptre of her power. This stately scion of the lily family is signi¬ ficant of power. The flowers are formed by a circle of tulip-shaped corollas turned downwards, which have the appearance of so many gay bells, the stigma answering for the clapper ; the whole is crowned by a coma or tuft of green leaves, which gives to it a singular and agreeable effect. Each of the bells contains some drops of water, which adhere to the bottom of the corolla till it withers. “ It did not need that altered look, Nor that uplifted brow— I had not asked thy haughty love, Were I as proud as now. “ My love was like a beating heart— Unbidden and unstayed; And had I known but half its power, I had not been betrayed.” Willis. 76 LANGUAGE AND CYPRESS. Cyprcssus , sempervirens . Class 21 ; Order 16 MOURNING.-DESPAIR. They came and went like shadows, The blessed dreams of youth, And they left behind no impress Or record of their truth. Then the future was all sunshine, In gorgeous robes arrayed; But ever as I’ve reached it, Its sunshine turned to shade. I’ve seen the colors fading From all that I could prize, Like day’s departing glories From out the sunset skies ; And full roughly I have ridden The stormy tide of life, And long years have passed in struggling, In bitterness and strife. T. B. Thayer. In every country and from the earliest ages the Ci/press has been ever deemed the emblem of mourning; and the reason is not difficult to imagine. No one can be surprised that our earliest an- POETRY OF FLOWERS. 77 cestors selected so doleful a looking tree to sym¬ bolize their grief, or even that it is still used as a funereal sign. According to Ovid, this tree was named after Cvparissus, an especial favor¬ ite of Apollo. This feeling youth, having acci¬ dentally slain his darling stag, was so sorrow- stricken that he besought the gods to doom his life to everlasting gloom ; and they, in compli¬ ance with his request, transformed him into a cypress tree. “When, lost in tears, the blood his veins forsakes, His every limb a glassy hue partakes; His flowing tresses, stiff and bushy grown, Point to the stars, and taper to a cone. Apollo thus : ‘Ah ! youth, beloved in vain, Long shall thy boughs the gloom I feel retain : Henceforth, when mourners grieve, their grief to share, Emblem of woe, the cypress shall be there.” In turning to modern poets, one finds no lack of references to the melancholy omen of this tree. Sir Walter Scott leads the sad procession with a doleful song : “ 0 lady, twine no wreath for me, Or twine it of the cypress tree.” Byron beautifully terms it that “Dark tree! still sad when others’ grief is fled, The only constant mourner o’er the dead.” T8 LANGUAGE AND DAFFODIL. UNREQUITED LOVE. The yellow-colored species of the Narcissus is generally known as the Daffodil, and by this cognomen the beauteous flower is more fre¬ quently addressed by the poets. By the early writers it was regarded as a member of the lily family, and it has even been conjectured that its name is nothing but a corruption of Dis’s lily, as it is supposed to be the flower that dropped from Pluto’s chariot when he was car¬ rying off Proserpine to the infernal regions. Jean Ingelow, in the beautiful poem of “Per¬ sephone,” thus introduces this flower into a re¬ suscitation of the antique fable: “ She stepped upon Sicilian grass, Demeter’s daughter fresh and fair, A child of light, a radiant lass, And gamesome as the morning air. The daffodils were fair to see, They nodded lightly o’er the lea. ******* “Lo ! one she marked of rarer growth Than orchis or anemone; For it the maiden left them both, And parted from her company. Drawn nigh, she deemed it fairer still, And stooped to gather by the rill The daffodil, the daffodil. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 73 “ What ailed the meadow that it shook ? What ailed the air of Sicily? She wondered by the brattling brook, And trembled with the trembling lea. ‘The coal-black horses rise—-they rise: 0 mother, mother!’ low she cries. ***#«*« “ ‘ 0 light, light!’ she cries, ‘ farewell; The coal-black horses wait for me. 0 shade of shades, where I must dwell, Demeter, mother, far from thee ! Oh, fated doom that I fulfil ! Oh, fateful flower beside the rill! The daffodil, the daffodil!’ ’’ Chaucer, the fountain-head of English poetry, alludes to this story in his quaint old language, and Shakspeare, who had a loving word for all things lovely, introduces it into his “Winter’s Tale,” in this exquisite manner: “ 0 Proserpina, For the flowers now that, frighted, thou lett’st fall From Dis’s wagon : daffodils That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty.” 80 LANGUAGE AND DAHLIA. Dahlia . Class 19; Order 2 DIGNITV AND ELEGANCE. It is worth much, in this dull world of strife And foolish vanity, to meet a heart Serene and beautiful like thine ! The praise And selfish flattery of the heartless crowd Fall idly on thine ear, whilst thou unmoved, And with a lofty purpose in thy breast, Retain’st thy elevation o'er the herd, No less by that calm majesty of soul Which shrinks from adulation, than by gifts Of lofty intellect and outward grace. Thy form hath elegance that indicates The beautiful refinement of thy thoughts; And there is dignity in thy firm step That speaks a soul superior to the thrall Of petty vanity and low-born pride. The Dahlia is a native of Mexico, where Baron Humboldt found it growing in sandy meadows several hundred feet above the level of the sea. It ornamented the royal gardens of the Eseurial, at Madrid, for several years be¬ fore Spanish jealousy would permit it to be in¬ troduced into the other countries of Europe. But it is said that it neither improved nor exhibited any change under their management. POETRY OF FLOWERS. SI Count Lelieur having by some means obtained a root from the Dons, introduced it into France, where it soon attracted attention. From that time it engaged the notice of continental flori¬ culturists, who propagated the plant so copi¬ ously, that at the general peace in 1814, English travellers were as much astonished by its pro¬ fusion as they were delighted with its richness and brilliancy. It derives its name from a countryman of the celebrated Linnseus, Professor Andrew Dahl, a Swedish botanist: he presented it in 1804 to Lady Holland, who was its first successful Eng¬ lish cultivator. Its coarse foliage, gaudy flowers, and want of perfume seem to have prevented its becoming a favorite with our poets. Mrs. Sigourney just alludes to it as a florist’s flower, in her u Fare¬ well “ I have no stately dahlias, nor greenhouse flowers to weep, But I passed the rich man’s garden, and the mourn¬ ing there was deep, For the crownless queens all drooping hung amid the wasted sod, Like Boadicea, bent with shame beneath the Roman rod.” 6 83 LANGUAGE AND DAISY. Beilis . .. Class 19; Order 2. BEAUTY AND INNOCENCE. Lovely thou art ! ay, lovely. In spirit and in form; A sunbeam glancing o’er life’s tears ; A rainbow through the storm ; A snow-drop ’mid earth’s darker hues. Unwarmed by flattery’s breath ; A harp-tone flung from cherub hands, Wringing out joy from death. Mrs. Scott. “Whose white investments figure innocence.” Shakspeare. The flower which, next to the rose, appears to have received the most attention from the poets is the Daisy. It may seem strange that a little scentless floweret like this should have obtained so many plaudits; but Montgomery most probably guesses the real cause of its po¬ pularity when he sings “The rose has but a summer reign; The daisy never dies.” Formerly “the poet’s darling” was termed the “ e’e of daie,” and under that name Chaucer POETRY OP FLOWERS. S3 speaks of it; by the time the Elizabethan school arose, it was known as the “day’s eye,” from which title to its present appellation the transi¬ tion was easy. This little “silver shield” is known to the French as Marguerite , or “ the pearl.” According to the classic account, this little flower owed its origin to Belides, one of the di’yads, the nymphs who presided over wood¬ lands. It is fabled that whilst this damsel-was dancing with her favored suitor, Ephigeus, she attracted the attention of Verturnnus, the guai'- dian deity of orchards; and it was in order to shelter her from his pursuit that she was trans¬ formed into Bcellis , or the daisy. In Macpher- son’s exquisite rendering of Ossian, there is a passage of great beauty, wherein a yet more celestial origin is assigned to this nestling of nature. The grand old Gaelic poet feigns that the daisy was first sown above a baby’s grave by the dimpled hands of infantine angels. In France, lovers, who evidently believe with poor L. E. L. that “ flowers were made for Love’s interpreters,” use it for the prognostica¬ tion of their future lot, in the following man¬ ner : gathering a daisy, they commence pluck¬ ing its leaflets off, saying with each one, “Does he love me?—a little—much—passion¬ ately—not at. all!” and as the floret decides, such will be the lot of the experimentalist. 84 LANGUAGE AND DANDELION. Leontodon taraxacum . . Class 19; Order 1 ORACLE.-COQUETRY. As thinks The mariner of home, When doomed through many a dreary waste Of waters yet to roa-m,— Thus doth my spirit turn to thee, My guiding star o’er life’s wild sea. Mrs. Embury. How often you may have passed by this com¬ mon wild flower, the Dandelion, as a plant pos¬ sessing little attraction! And yet, not only is it extremely useful for manifold culinary and medicinal purposes, but, under its presumed oracular character, many a little beating heart has it caused to throb yet more merrily, or more wearily heave; many a bright eye has it made to gleam brighter with anticipated tri¬ umph, or dim with foreboding tears; for this golden-rayed blossom, like some others of its floral sisterhood, is often selected to decide its fair questioner’s fate: “ lie loves me,” or, “ lie loves me not.” Alas! what histories of joy or misery may the answers to those simple ques¬ tions betoken! To the school-boy who, bred up amid the secrets of Nature, often tries POETRY OF FLOWERS. Sn “To win the secret of a weed’s plain heart,” the dandelion frequently serves to tell another tale : gently plucking it from its hollow stem, he blows softly upon its feathery coronet, and away flies the ethereal spray. “One o’clock!” he shouts, and then gives another puff at his floral timepiece, and off careers another fleecy cloud: “Two o’clock!” he cries, and again repeats the experiment, until not a single tiny plume is left on the poor bald-headed flower; as many puffs as it takes to scatter the down, so many hours of the day have fleeted by. They scarcely think they are aiding the operations of Nature by thus dispersing, attached to that light and pretty spray, the flower’s seed. Not only does it rest its claim to be considered an oracle upon these prophetic utterances, but also upon the fact that as its blossoms open and close at certain regular hours, it serves the soli¬ tary shepherd as a clock, and as a barometer, by predicting, by means of its feathery tufts, calm or stormy weather. This flower is supposed to have derived its name from the deeply notched edges of its leaves, they having been thought to resemble the teeth of a lion, for which reason it was called “ lion-toothed.” or “ dent de lion." 36 LANGUAGE AND DEAD LEAVES. MELANCHOLY. Ah me! a leaf with sighs can wring My lips asunder. E. B. Browning. Never did the florigraphist select from nature a more appropriate interpreter of man’s inner¬ most passions than when he chose dead leaves as representative of melancholy. Never did poet utter a more profound truth than he who said, “When we are sad, to sadness we apply Each plant, and flower, and Leaf that meets the eye.” There are few who have lived and loved who will accept Coleridge’s dictum, that “ in nature there is nothing melancholy.” It is impossible for those who have suffered—and who has not? —not to perceive evidences of sorrow, although ever counterbalanced by the sunny side in all portions of this mundane sphere. From the grief of man to the decay of the tiniest leaflet, every object in nature wears at times a melan¬ choly hue. It is impossible for the gayest of us not to feel occasionally the shadow—for us not to mourn for POETRY OF FLOWERS. 87 •‘The rich gleaming wreathings — oh, where are they now ? The bloom is departed, the beauty is shed; All scentless the flower, all sapless the bough,— Oh ! the glad night is past, and the green leaves are dead !” EGLANTINE —SWEET BRIER. Rosa, rubignosa . . . Class 12; Order 13. POETRY.-1 WOUND TO HEAL. Thy spirit has a gift, a secret gift, Which answers only to the far, bright stars, When through the greenwood’s high and changeful rift, Streams down the light of Venus and of Mars ; Which answers only to the winds and streams, The sweet wood-blossoms, and the moon’s pale beams. Thou seest strange beauty in the silent things That others idly pass. The small, wild bird, That flutters o’er the rose his bright blue wings; The singing brook, by careless ears ur.neard ; The wild flower, swinging in the lonely dell,— All bind thee with a strong and wondrous spell. Deemed by professors of the language of flow¬ ers emblematical of that indescribable some- 88 LANGUAGE AND thing which, for want of a better name, we agree to call Poetry, the Eglantine should indeed find favor with the votaries of that gentle art; and ; might we reckon the value of their esteem for it by the number of sweet things they have said about it, we could put a high price upon its beauties. What wooer of the muses has ne¬ glected to pay his passing tribute to the sweet¬ leaved eglantine?—‘‘therain-scented eglantine;” the sweet, the fresh, the fair,”—the eglantine to which the sun himself pays homage, by ‘ counting his dewy rosary,” on it every morning. ihe honeysuckle, or woodbine, symbolic of generous and devoted affection , is frequently mis¬ taken even by the poets themselves—to their shame be it said—for the eglantine, or sweet- biiar, as it is sometimes called: even Milton appears to fall into this error when he speaks of “ the twisted eglantine.” Where the English Ilomer nods, it is not to be Avondered at if lesser mortals, headed by Scott, the Wizard of the North, prove less Avakeful ; and so we have to turn to Shakspeare, the righter of all wrongs, to put us right aneAV. He tells us : “ I know a bank whereon the wild thyme bloAvs, Where oxlip and the nodding violet grows; Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk roses, and with eglantine.” POETRY OP FLOWERS. 89 ELDER, Sambucus, niger .... Class 5 ; Order 3 . Flowers, white. Berries, lark purple. Whole shrub medicinal. COMPASSION. Oh, let me wipe The tears from thy too mournful eyes, and make Thee happy, dearest, by my own true love. I will console thee by the earnest truth Of a confiding heart; by kindly deeds To those who mourn ; by patient love and hope For those who go astray from the high path Of duty; by a gentle watch o’er thee When thou art sick and weary; and by still And secret chastening of my own wild heart, In the dear presence of my God. EVERLASTING. Gnaphalium . Class 19 ; Order 2, A wild flower, with white blossoms, and unwithering NEVER-CEASING REMEMBRANCE. I think of thee when the bright sunlight shimmers Across the sea; When the clear fountain in the moonbeam glimmers, I think of tbee. I 90 LANGUAGE AND I see thee, if far up the pathway yonder The dust be stirred ; Tf faint steps o’er the little bridge to wander At night be heard. I hear thee, when the tossing waves’ low rumbling Creeps up the hill; I go to the lone wood, and listen, trembling, When all is still. Goethe. FLOWERING RUSH. Carina augustifolia . . . Class 1 ; Order 1 Found in the Southern States. CONFIDENCE IN HEAVEN. Oh, there is solemn peace, and strength sublime, And holy fortitude, and deep sweet rest, In all our thoughts and visions of that clime Where dwell the spirits of the loved and blest. In every hue of gladsome beauty drest, They come across our hearts like gleams of light, Fraught with a mission, at God’s high behest— A mission to relieve our mental sight By glimpses of a life where all is calm and bright POETRY OF FLOWERS. 91 FORGET-ME-NOT. Viola cucula . Class 5 ; Order 1. TRUE LOVE. Hope’s gentle gem, the sweet forget-me-not. Coleridge. The sweet forget-me-nots that grow for happy lovers. Tennyson. A beautiful little flower, tvhose name en¬ folds no hieroglyphic secret, but whose beloved face of heavenly blue is suggestive of its sor¬ rowful meaning, is the Forget-me-not. The German legend that accounts for the poetical appellation by which this tiny floral pet is known, runs thus: “ A knight and his betrothed were walking on the banks of the Danube, when the lady espied a bunch of the Myostris pa- lustris (as this blossom is termed by Linnaeus) floating away down the stream ; and, expressing a wish to possess it, with chivalrous promptitude the mail-clad gallant plunged into the river and grasped the flower; but, alas! encumbered by the weight of his armor, he was unable to re¬ mount the slippery bank. Finding himself, despite all his exertions, sinking fast beneath the waters, with a last effort he flung the blos¬ soms ashoi'e to his agonized mistress, crying, ere he sank for ever, ‘ Forget me not!’ ” 92 LANGUAGE AND With such a romantic tragedy attached to it^ it is not to be wondered at that this little flower should have been inundated with poetical tri butes. Goethe, in one of his melodious lyrics, addresses the forget-me-not as “ Still the loveliest flower, The fairest of the fair, Of all that deck my lady’s bower, Or bind her floating hair.” In many parts of France this little flower is carefully cultivated for transplantation to the city markets, where its appealing looks readily procure purchasers for it. The following verses, entitled “Forget 1 m not,” appeared some few years ago: “ Dear girl, I send this spray of flowers— All withered now, once brightest blue— To call to mind those happy hours, Those happy hours I passed with you. Forget me not! though others win The glorious right to call thee ‘ theirs ;’ Forget me not! that might have been The answer to my fervid prayers. “ For I have had thy hand in mine, And once our ways in life seemed blended; And once I thought our loves might twine, But now, alas ! that dream is ended. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 93 Forget me not! for I am lonely, And stranded on Life’s desert shore; .Forget me not!—I ask that only^- For now our paths may meet no more. •• Could I but think you don’t forget, Though all my hopes of life should perish, I’d pass them by without regret, So that that thought I still might cherish. Forget me not! ’fcis all I ask, And though thy hand may be another’s, I’ll wear upon my face a mask Of smiles to hide the grief it covers. “ Let, then, these withered flowers recall Each broken link of Mem’ry’s chain ; And from the Past’s dim haunted hall Those happy hours bring back again. Forget me not! mine only love— Ah ! would indeed that you were mitie.' Forget me not! my long-lost dove, In dreams my heart will beat next thine !” John Ingram. ‘‘It is said that after the battle of Waterloo an immense quantity of forget-me-nots sprang up upon different parts of the soil, enriched by the blood of heroes. . . A poet might say that the appearance of such a flower in this me¬ morable spot seemed to ask that we should not soon forget those who perished on the field.” This little floral pet, which Coleridge aptly jails 94 LANGUAGE AND “ That blue and bright-eyed flow’ret of the brook, Hope’s gentle gem, the sweet forget-me-not,” is greatly beloved by the Germans, -who are very fond of growing it upon the graves of their deceased darlings. When it is taken from its native brook, however, and planted in a dry situation, its looks alter considerably, but withal it continues a pretty blossom. Tennyson, in his poem of the “Miller’s Daughter,” when he would “make a garland for the heart,” asks Alice “ To sing that other song I made, Half-angered with my happy lot, The day when in the chestnut shade I found the blue forget-me-not.” And Alice sings, “Love that hath us in the net, Can he pass, and we forget ? Many suns arise and set, Many a chance the years beget, Love the gift is love the debt. Even so. “ Love is hurt with jar and fret, Love is made a vague regret. Eyes with idle tears are wet. Idle habit links us yet. What is love? for we forget 1 Ah ! no, no !” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 9a Agnes Strickland relates that Henry of Lan¬ caster during his exile adopted this blossom as his emblem, with the motto Souveigne vous cle moi. The following pathetic and original poem, en¬ titled “Can you forget me?” was contributed to a contemporary annual by L. E. L. “ Can you forget me? I, who have cherished The veriest trifle that was memory’s link ; The roses that you gave me, although perished, Were precious in my sight; they made me think You took them in their scentless beauty stooping, From the warm shelter of the garden wall: Autumn, while into languid Winter drooping, Gave its last blossoms, opening but to fall. Can you forget them ? “ Can you forget me ? I am not relying On plighted vows—alas! I know their worth. Man’s faith to woman is a trifle, dying Upon the very breath that gave it birth. But I remember hours of quiet gladness, When if the heart had truth, it spoke it then, When thoughts would sometimes take a tone of sad¬ ness, And then unconsciously grow glad again. Can you forget them ? x- -x- -x- * * * * “ There is no truth in love, whate’er its seeming, And heaven itself could scarcely seem more true; 06 LANGUAGE AND Sadly have I awakened from the dreaming, Whose charmed slumber, false one, was of you. I gave mine inmost being to thy keeping, I had no thought I did not seek to share; Feelings that hushed within my soul were sleeping, Waked into voice to trust them to thy care. Can you forget them? “ Can you forget me? This is vainly tasking The faithless heart where I, alas ! am not. Too well I know the idleness of asking— The misery—of why I am forgot! The happy hours that I have passed while kneeling, Half-slave, half-child, to gaze upon thy face— But what to thee this passionate appealing? Let my heart break—it is a common case. You have forgotten me.” FUCHSIA. TASTE. The Fuchsia , a native of Chili, was named after Leonard Fuchs, a noted German botanist. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 97 FOXGLOVE. INSINCERITY. The Foxglove typifies insincerity because of the invidious poison which lurks Avithin its bright blossom. In France and Germany, and in some parts of England, it is knoivn as “ Finger-flower,” because of the resemblance it bears to the finger of a glove. The tall purple foxglove is one of the most stately and yet most lovely of plants; its ele¬ gantly-mottled and inversely conical bells are Avell worthy the attention of the entomologists, as a variety of tiny beings are attracted by the shelter, or by the rich repast w r hich the blossoms afford, to continually resort to them. The common foxglove varies in color from a Koman purple to a violet hue, and is found of a cream color, orange-tawny, blush-color, and Avhite. It is a pity these plants are poisonous, for they are extremely beautiful, particularly those kinds Avhich are of a deep rose. They are all speckled within the bell, which adds still more to their richness. Tennyson truly styles them “ the foxglove’s dappled bells.” 9S LANGUAGE AND GERANIUM. Pelargonium capitatum . Class 16 ; Order 7 DECEIT.—PREFERENCE. Others may wear a gayer smile, And speak in richer tones; But ah ! my heart, my heart, the while. Each spell save thine disowns. Dearer to me one word of thine Than all that others speak; My heart I lay upon thy shrine— Accept it ere it break. There are as many florigraphical meanings attached to this choice flower as there are varie¬ ties of it, and they, veritably, are numberless ; but we have selected the symbol that appears to appertain to the genus in general. The name Geranium is derived from the Greek, and signi¬ fies a crane, the fruit bearing some resemblance to the form of a crane’s bill and head. Indeed, the old English designation for the wild species of this flower was “crane’s-bill;’ but the clas¬ sic form has entirely superseded it of late, as it has also consigned to oblivion its other titlo, when in an untamed state, of Herb Robert. This plant is divided into three genera; Ero- dium, Pelargonium, and Geranium, respectively signifying “ heron’s-bill,” “ stork’s-bill,” and “ crane’s-bill,” all of which names are derived POETRY OP FLOWERS. 99 from their blossoms’ fancied resemblance to the appendages of those birds. The Scented Geranium is considered typical of preference, a quality for which the softness of its leaves, the beauty of its bloom, and its fragrant odor, will most decidedly obtain it the award. It emits a delightful scent when lightly rubbed by the finger; and so accustomed are people to use this experiment, that a person ap¬ proaching a geranium almost mechanically rubs or plucks a leaf for the anticipated iDerfume. “And genteel geranium, With a leaf for all that come,” seldom fails to obtain notice and admiration, even when surrounded by the most curious or bril¬ liant exotics; although, when it happens, as it often does, that the plant is not a scented one, the experimentalist fully comprehends why it is deemed symbolic of deceit. All the most admired plants of the geranium family are natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The Scarlet Geranium, which is not only the most common, but also the most popular, of all this genus, is, strange to say, recorded in the language of flowers as the emblem of stupidity It is one of the most brilliant of our floral pets and deservedly, as Cowper remarks, “ Geranium boasts Her crimson honors.” 100 LANGUAGE AND GENTIAN. Gentiana . Class 5; Order 2. A very beautiful autumn wild flower, of a deep blue color, with delicately fringed petals. VIRGIN PRIDE. Alone and pure my life shall be, A vestal flame from passion free ; Unwon, unwooed by human love, My heart shall fix its hopes above. Approach me not with tempting wiles— My lip denies thee while it smiles ; In virgin liberty and peace I will live out my mortal lease. GERANIUM, SILVER-LEAVED. Pel. argentifolium. This has a beautiful silvery leaf. RECALL. Come back ! oh come ! The past shall be A cloud fore’er removed ; Come back, and in my welcome see How thou art still beloved. POETRY OF FLOWERS. lol I strove in vain to bid my heart Forget its early dream ; For, ah ! the dream would not depart, And thou wert still its theme. Come back, and never more shall doubt Or cold distrust be mine ; My heart hath cast those demons out, And now is wholly thine. GILLYFLOWEK; or STOCK. Cheiranthus, incanus . . Class 15 ; Order 2. Flowers bright red, purple, or white. The white Gilly¬ flower is very fragrant. UNFADING BEAUTY. Oh faint, indeed, are outward hues Compared with thy rich mental light! Each day thy thoughts their rays diffuse, Yet grow each added day more bright. To scatter charms so rich as thine, In vain time’s surging billows roll ; The pearls that on thy forehead shine Are gathered daily from thy soul. The Stock lias been long established in gar¬ dens, and, under the somewhat puzzling name 102 LANGUAGE AND of “ gillyflower/’ is frequently mentioned by the oldest writers. There has been a long¬ standing dispute amongst florigraphists as to what plant was really meant by the latter dif- fusedly-appliedterm, supposed to be a corruption of the French girofiier. Pinks and carnations were undoubtedly classed formerly with the stock as gillyflowers, but more recently, in order to distinguish them, were called clove-gillyflow¬ ers and stock-gillyflowers. The stock should, indeed, be a favorite flower with the softer sex, inasmuch as it is the chosen representative of what Madame Rachel so vehe¬ mently protests that she has discovered the secret elixir of, that is to say, lasting beauty. For several centuries, as might be supposed, it has been a great pet with the ladies, and care¬ fully did the dames of yore cultivate it within the circumscribed limits of their castle gardens. What was formerly only a little sea-side flower now occasionally assumes the dimensions of a shrub, and puts forth blossoms almost equalling the rose in size, but—mark the but, fair reader —sometimes of so evanescent a nature and so variable a hue, that some flowers of this species have been termed mutabilis, or changeable. So, after all, ladies, you must seek another emblem, if you wish one, for enduring beauty, for the constant changes of this plant only render it a fit representative of earthly beauty’s mutability. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 103 GOLDEN EOD. Solidago sjjeciosa . . . Class 19; Order 2. Flowers bright yellow, and very sliowy. ENCOURAGEMENT. I will not chide thy love, Nor crush its budding flower; But it must look above For fostering sun and shower. May be, when months are o’er, This heart may be all thine: Oh, wouldst thou ask for more From lips reserved as mine ? GRASS. Gramina . Class 3 ; Order 2. There are more than three hundred species of Grass, constituting about a sixth part of all the vegetables of the world. Some have very pretty flowers. SUBMISSION. I AM resigned. lYhate’er my fate may be,— Or storms, or sunshine, to thy will I bow; And be the fruit that hangs on life’s green tree Or sweet, or bitter, it is welcome now. All things are equal to the heart that bears A faith unblenching through earth’s thousand snares. 104 LANGUAGE AND I am resigned. In holy hope and trust I wait the coming of a brighter day ; And though but thorns, and rocks, and scorching dust, Lie all along my melancholy way, let with a fervent heart and willing mind, I can look up and say, / am resigned ! HAWTHORN. Crataegus . Class 12 ; Order 2. HOPE. Hope on, hope ever, Dark o’er us now the clouds of grief are brooding, Hoarsely the streamlets murmur at our feet ; Bright birds of song, our eager grasp eluding, Far from our tree of love and life retreat. But oh ! not yet, my gentle friend, shall leave us The fervent hope of sunshine and of joy; And whatsoe’er of wrong may come to grieve us, Let there be one thing grief can ne’er destroy— Hope on, hope ever ! If the rose is the favorite of poets of all na¬ tions, this delicious emblem of lifelong hope is the especial darling of British bards; there is not a country in all Europe where the POETRY OF FLOWERS. 105 common Hawthorn does not display its scented snowy blossom. From the days of Chaucer downwards has this chosen bride of May ever been belauded by the poets and beloved by the people. In the olden days our jolly forefathers made great use of this aromatic-smelling tree, which then, as now, was more commonly known by its favorite name of ‘‘May,” from its flowering in that month. Houses and churches were as habi¬ tually decked on May-day with the blossom of the hawthorn as they were at Christmas with holly. In country places it was formerly the custom for lads and lasses to get up soon after mid¬ night, and, accompanied by such music as the village afforded, to walk in a body to some neighboring wood ; there they gathered as many branches and nosegays of flowers as they could carry, and then returned home about sunrise in joyous procession, garlanded with flowers, and laden with blossomy boughs, with which to decorate the doors and windows. Shakspeare did not fail to note the eagerness with which May-day pastimes were looked forward to and indulged in in his days, and remarks: “ ’Tis as much impossible, Unless we swept them from the door with cannons, To scatter ’em, as ’tis to make ’em sleep On May-day morning.” f 106 LANGUAGE ANI) Tennyson, in his “May Queen”—that beau¬ tiful poem which is said to have gained him the laureateship—has immortalized the memory of this fast-fading custom. This fragrant favorite of English poets is well worthy of its reputation ; its beauty and per¬ fume are alike unsurpassed by any of earth’s “ gemmy flowers,” as Poe calls her floral deco¬ rations ; and truly we may style it the loveliest flower of the loveliest month—it is, indeed, the scented diadem of the year. Well may Shak speare make Henry VI. ask : “Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds, looking on their silly sheep, Than doth a rich embroidered canopy To kings ?” And then comes Goldsmith to speak of other tales told beneath its shade : “The hawthorn-bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made! How often have I blessed the coming day, When toil remitting lent its turn to play, And all the village train, from labor free, Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree, While many a pastime circled in the shade, The young contending, as the old surveyed.” The common color of these delicate blossoms is Avhite, frequently blushed with pink; but POETRY OF FLOWERS. lffi there is a garden variety with double flowers of a deep red. Poets constantly allude to the petals of the bloom as summer snow, or as scented snow, because of the manner in which the wind often scatters complete clouds of them over the pathways and about the roadsides, and also because of their fleecy, snow-like look amid surrounding green hedges. “ Between the leaves, the silver whitethorn shows Its dewy blossoms, pure as mountain snows.” HAZEL. Corylus . Class 20; Order 13. This shrub is well known to children for its sweet, palatable nut. The shrub itself is green and pretty. RECONCILIATION. We have been friendly together—it cannot all be o’er; Oh, let us nurse the smothered spark till it shall blaze once more! Here, take this hand; as once you deemed, its grasp is warm and true, And in my heart a gushing fount of love still springs for you. Oh, bless that beaming smile! it comes all sorrow to dispel; We’re friends once more together—I will not say fare¬ well ! Mrs. Sawyer. 108 LANGUAGE AND HEATH. SOLITUDE. When sorrow takes possession of the wounded heart; when love or fortune has proved unkind ; when the best laid schemes are gone astray, what medicine can minister so well to the mind diseased as solitude, of which this fairy flower is the token? Yes, gentle reader; when grief or trouble assails you for a while, forsake the common herd; go forth, and commune with Nature—with Nature, and with Nature’s God, and be assured that you will return to your daily duties with a reinvigorated soul—with a mind strengthened and “ prepared for any fate ;” and trust that "Not vainly may the heath-flower shed Its moorland fragrance round your head.” To many, wandering, perchance, in foreign lands, the Heath is endowed with a thousand tender recollections of the past—the past that never comes again; and Scottish Highlanders, so acutely sensible are they to the associations of home, have been seen to weep like children, when in their distant exile they have beheld a bunch of simple heather. Grant thus gives ex¬ pression to this feeling of fondness displayed by the sturdy Scot for his native plant-. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 109 “Flowers of the wild, whose purple glow Adorns the dusky mountain’s^side, Not the gay hues of Iris’ bow, Nor garden’s gorgeous, varied pride, With all its wealth of sweets, could cheer Like thee, the hardy mountaineer. “ Flower of his dear-loved native land ! Alas ! when distant, far more dear! When he from cold and foreign strand Looks homeward through the blinding tear, How must his aching heart deplore That home, and thee, he sees no more !” HELIOTROPE. Heliotropium . Class 5 ; Order 1. \ DEVOTION. Ah ! I would sit for long, long hours, And let thee read my heart— Its Greek, and poetry, and flowers, And words of cunning art; And never think, with all thy skill, That thou couldst make it plain ; For something thou wouldst find there still. To study o’er again. 110 ..ainGUAGE and Deep graved upon its secret leaves Are mysteries so rare, That all the aid thy mind receives Prom books would fail thee there. But I, yes I, with simple pride, Could soon explain the key; Here, take this sentence for thy guide— My love for God and thee ! This flower, sweet as its florigraphical 'mean¬ ing, received its usual name of Heliotrope from two Greek words, signifying the sun and to turn, because of its having been supposed to turn con¬ tinually towards the sun, following his course round the horizon. In consequence of this belief, the ancients ascribed its origin to the death cf the hapless Clytie, who pined away in hopeless love of the sun-god Apollo. Ovid—as trans¬ lated by Sandy—tells the woful story thus: “ She with distracted passion pines away ; Detjsteth company; all night, all day Aisrobed, with her ruffled hair unbound, And wet with humor, sits upon the ground: For nine long daj's all sustenance forbears; Her hunger cloyed with dew, her thirst with tears: Nor rose; but rivets on the god her eyes, And ever turns her face to him that flies. At length to earth her stupid body cleaves ; Her wan comple v; - T w turns to bloodless leaves. POETRY OP FLOWERS. Ill 5Tet streaked with red, her perished limhs beget A flower resembling the pale violet, Which with the sun, though rooted fast, doth move, And being changed, changeth not her love.” The Peruvian heliotrope is chiefly admired for its unsurpassed fragrance. Although not a showy plant, it is delicate and sweet as the sen¬ timent it interprets. The blossom is very small, of a faint purple color, sometimes inclining to white, and sheds an almond-like perfume. This species was discovered by Jussieu, the celebrated botanist, whilst botanizing in the Cordilleras. One day when gathering plants, he suddenly found himself overpowered by an intense per¬ fume. Looking round to see from what gorgeous child of Flora this odor proceeded, he couid discover nothing but some light green shrubs, the tips of whose elegant sprays were decked with faint purple blossom. Finding on inspection that all these tiny florets turned to¬ wards the sun, Jussieu gave the plant the name of Heliotrope, and collecting some of the seeds, forwarded them to the royal garden at Paris, where in 1740 the heliotrope was first cultivated. It spread into all the countries of Europe, and from its delicious scent soon became an especial favorite with the ladies. An anonymous poet has deduced from this flower a meaning which, though given here, is quite the reverse of that assigned to it by flori- grapliists: 112 LANGUAGE AND “ There is a flower, whose modest eye Is turned with looks of light and love; Who breathes her sweetest, softest sigh, Whene’er the sun is bright above. “ Let clouds obscure, or darkness veil, Her fond idolatry is fled ; Her sighs no more their sweets exhale, The loving eye is cold and dead. “ Canst thou not trace a moral here, False flatterer of the prosperous hour ? Let but an adverse cloud appear, And thou art faithless as the flower.” HIBISCUS. Hibiscus . Class 16; Order 13. A kind of Mallows. Flowers white and purple, or a faint straw-color and purple. DELICATE BEAUTY. Seek for beauty if thou wilt, But mark the quality ; not that which shines From human face divine, and gains applause From gaping starers—that which fools admire, And seek no other; but that higher kind Which earth not only approbates, but Heaven, Pure, bright, celestial!—beauty of the soul— Beauty op holiness ! J. G. Adams. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 113 HOLLY. liex . Class 4; Order 4. FORESIGHT. I, in this wisdom of the holly-tree can emblems see. Soutiiey. If ever any production of nature testified to the superintending care of a Supreme Being, it is the Roily ; that evergreen bush which “out¬ dares cold winter’s ire,” and with its shining- green foliage and brilliant red berries, forms such a cheerful contrast with the general life¬ lessness of the landscape in winter. In frost, in snow, in sun or rain, its glossy leaves are ever seen beaming brightly, inspiriting dreary hearts to renewed hopes and exertions. Of the various evergreens which the English use at Christmas for decorating their houses and churches, none is such a favorite, and is deemed so thoroughly emblematic of that festive season, as the much-admired holly. It is stated that in some parts of the country there is a singular custom of beating the feet, when afflicted with chilblains, with a branch of holly, from some lingering superstitious idea of its curative powers. It is to be hoped that the upper or thornless portion of the tree is used, otherwise, as our authority naively observes, the castigation 8 114 LANGUAGE AND is little likely to produce any other effect than that of irritating a part already too much in¬ flamed and susceptible. Apart from its beauty, and the pleasurable feelings it engenders by decking the wintry prospect with its lively-hued foliage and bril¬ liant scarlet berries, the holly has other associ- tions which render it, in England at least, the most beloved of all plants. Long, long may Christmas, crowned with this emblem of its vitality, knit in bonds of loving brotherhood man to fellow-man! Eliza Cook carols of the Christmas holly: “ The holly ! the holly ! oh, twine it with the bay— Come, give the holly a song; For it helps to drive stern Winter away, With his garments so sombre and long. It peeps through the trees with its berries of red. And its leaves of burnished green, When the flowers and fruits have long been dead, And not even the daisy is seen. Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly, That hangs over peasant and king: While wi laugh and carouse ’neath its glittering boughs, ^ To the Christmas holly we’ll sing. “The gale may whistle, and frost may come To fetter the gurgling rill; The woods may be bare and the warblers dumb— But the holly is beautiful still. POETRY OF FLOWERS. lib In the revel and light of princely halls The bright holly branch is found; And its shadow falls on the lowliest—falls While the brimming horn goes round. Then drink to the holly, &c. “ The ivy lives long, but its home must be Where graves and ruins are spread; There’s beauty about the cypress-tree, But it flourishes near the dead; The laurel the warrior’s brow may wreathe, But it tells of tears and blood. I sing'the holly—and who can breathe Aught of that that is not good ? Then sing to the holly, &c.” HOLLYHOCK. Alcea, rosea . Class 16 ; Order 13. AMBITION. My laurel-wreath with blood is stained— How great hath been its cost! What is the glory I have gained, Compared with what I’ve lost?— Earth’s proudest ones have sought my shrine. And offered incense there ; But gladly would I all resign, A quiet heart to bear. C. A. Fillebrown LANGUAGE AND 116 Ah ! Peace is never found in Pleasure’s whirl. Nor where ambition’s luring meteors burn. These bring no lasting joy; in humble worth Lies all the enduring glory of this earth. S. C. E. The emblem of that crime by which Wolsey tells us the angels fell is the tall and stately Hollyhock. A few years ago it was often desig¬ nated the “ garden mallow,” and, indeed, be¬ longs to the mallow family. From the fact that it is known in France as Rose cl’outre Mer , or “rose from beyond the sea,” it has been sur¬ mised that it was first introduced into Europe from Syria by the Crusaders. Sometimes it is styled the “ China rose,” because large numbers of roots have been imported from that country, with whose inhabitants its showy bloomage makes it a great favorite. In some parts of France this symbol of am¬ bition is used to show the divisions of gardens and vineyards, in the same way that privet is in England ; their showy splendor—a splendor that is doubly prized because it does not “ put forth such blaze of beaut}' as translates to dullest hearts its dialect of pride,” until full-hearted summer has carried off all her other floral favor¬ ites. Then does the stately stem of the holly¬ hock shoot up above the fading and faded blos¬ soms, and bedecks itself with gallant bouquets POETRY OF FLOWERS. 117 of roses — roses of every tint and every hue,, from the palest blush to the deepest crimson, from flaky white to the deepest orange ; and. sometimes bursting forth purplish black, or glossy brown, looks, as Jean Ingelow poetically asserts, “ Queen hollyhock, with butterflies for crowns.” HONEY FLOWER, Melianthus . Class 14; Order 1. Flowers yellow, pink, and chocolate. SWEET AND SECRET LOVE. I think of thee, thou fair one, In my sad and lonely hours; And the thought of thee comes o’er me. Like the breath of morning flowers. Like music that enchants the ear, Like sights that bless the eye, Like the verdure of the meadow, The azure of the sky. Like rainbow in the evening, Like blossom on the tree, Is the thought of thee, thou loved one,— Is the tender thought of thee ! John Kenyon. 118 LANGUAGE AND HONEYSUCKLE. Lonicera, sempervirens . . Class 5 ; Order 1. Elowers white, red, scarlet, and beautiful. DEVOTED LOVE.—FIDELITY. I GO with thee ! I will be thine, In weal, in want, in woe ; Thy path, where’er it leads, is mine,— I go, my love, I go ! ’Tis not for wealth I seek the shade Of forest bower and tree; To share the burdens on thee laid— For this I go with thee. HOUSTONIA. Houstonia cerulea . . . Class 4; Order 1. A small, delicate spring flower. Flowers white, pur¬ ple, scarlet, and blue. CONTENT. Come to our cottage, love. How sweetly there The rose-trees bloom ! How the soft-scented air Plays round its shaded trellises, and floats Through our own quiet rooms! The woodlark’s notes, POETRY OF FLOWERS. 119 The sweetest in the choir of earth, awake Our happy spirits to the clay, and make Our morning hymn of praise. The mellow beams Of the rich sun shine gently on the streams That murmur there ; and thy pure, faithful love, Smiles on me ever. HYACINTH. Hyacinthus, comosus . . . Class 6; Order 1. GAME.—PLAY.-CONSTANCY.—SORROW. The Oriental or garden Hyacinth is a native of the Levant. Culture has produced several large and splendid double varieties of these flowers; their elegantly shaped bell blossoms, towering one above another upon graceful stems, in almost unrivalled redolence and in nearly every hue of the rainbow, present a glorious spectacle. Sweet-voiced Shelley plaintively sings of “ The hyacinth, purple, and white, and blue, Which flung from its bells a sweet peal anew, Of music, so delicate, soft, and intense, It was felt like an odor within the sense.” According to the mythologists, this fairy-like fragile flower had its origin in the death of 120 LANGUAGE AND Hyacinthus, a Laconian youth, greatly favored by Apollo, and much admired for his beauty lie fell a victim to the jealous rage of Zephyrus, who, in revenge for the preference manifested for him by the Sun-god, had determined to effect his destruction. Accordingly, one day when the ill-fated youth was playing at quoits with his divine friend, Zephyrus blew so powerfully upon the iron flung by Apollo that it struck the unfortunate Hyacinthus on the temple and killed him, to the intense grief of his innocent slayer. To commemorate the grace and beauty of the poor young prince, for such he was, Apollo, un¬ able to restore him to life, caused the flower which now bears his name to spring from his blood. Thus it Avas that the hyacinth, so cele¬ brated in the songs of the poets from the days of Homer doAvnwards, became the floral hiero¬ glyphic of play , although one would certainly have thought that a more sober meaning could have been awarded to a bloom reputed to have had so melancholy an origin. “In gentle love the sweetest joys we find— Yet even those joys, dire jealousy molests, And blackens each fair image in our breasts.” Lyttelton. “A slight, a single glance, And shot at random, often has brought home A sudden fever to the throbbing heart.” Young. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 121 HYDRANGEA. Hydrangea, hortensis . . Class 10; Order 2. Flowers rose color, sometimes blue. Hue very change¬ able. HEARTLESSNESS. Yes, thou canst smile and be as gay As though no heart thy guile had broken ; While every step along v>y way Brings up of thee some painful token. Thou breathest in a dozen ears The same fond words once breathed to me; While I, alas! in secret tears, Can only think and dream of thee. IRIS—FLOWER-DE-LUCE. Iris, cristata . Class 3 ; Order 1 I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THEE. Were not thy spirit purified to look Through all things beautiful to God and heaven, These gentle readings from love’s holy book Had not been given. 122 LANGUAGE AND Were thine eyes sealed to those sweet lessens, taught In the dim oracles of leaf and tree, I had not made them messengers of thought, Dear friend, to thee. But take them now, for they will talk to thee In the sweet accents of poetic lore; Heed their soft pleadings—kindly ‘think of me’— I ask no more. The Iris , typical of a message , claims the whole world as her country, different members of the family dwelling in every quarter of the globe. Some of the species have very large flowers, and, from their colors being very vivid, and several uniting in the same blossom, are ex¬ tremely showy. The Persian Iris is the most esteemed for the beauty and fragrance of its flotvers: a fetv of them will perfume a tvhole room. Their colors are a mixture of pale sky- blue, purple, yellow, and sometimes Avhite. It is from their brilliant and diversified hues, re¬ sembling those of the rainboAV, that they have been named after the messenger of the gods. It is Avell knoAvn that the fair Iris was the bearer of good neAvs only. “ She knew she was by him beloved—she knew, For quickly comes such knowledge, that his heart Was darkened with her shadow, and she saw That he was wretched, hut she saw not all.” Byron. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 123 IVY. Hedera . Class 5 ; Order 1. Flowers green. Berries round and black. MATRIMONY.-WEDDED LOVE. Long have I sought, and vainly have I yearned To meet some spirit that could answer mine; Then chide me not that I so soon have learned To talk with thine. Oh, thou wilt cherish what some hearts would spurn, So gentle and so full of soul thou art; And shrine my feelings in that holy urn— Thine own true heart. JASMINE, WHITE. Jasminum , officinale . . . Class 2; Order 1. An Asiatic genus. Flowers white and very fragrant. Plant climbing. AMIABILITY. Thine is that excelling virtue The pure-hearted only know ; Thine that unassuming goodness Which in silent deeds doth flow. 124 LANGUAGE AND Thou dost make the poor and needy In thy presence to rejoice; All the bowed and broken-hearted Love thy peace-inspiring voice. Mrs. Scott. Many florigraphical significations are attached to this exquisitely scented flower, but the most reliable works adopt it as the representative of amiability. The favorite kind is the Spanish jasmine, so called because it is believed to have been first introduced into Europe, in 1560, by some Span¬ iards, who brought it from the East Indies. The flowers are of a blush-red outside and blush within ; they bloom at the same time as the In¬ dian, the blossoms of which are of a bright yel¬ low, and are very fragrant. The common white jasmine is an exceedingly elegant plant, and is not surpassed in fragrance or beauty by any of the species. It is this flower which Gowper de¬ lineates as “The jasmine throwing wide her elegant sweets, The deep dark green of whose unvarnished leaf Makes more conspicuous and illumines more Tho bright profusion of her scattered stars.” The delicate beauty and delicious scent of this flower rendered it a valuable acquisition to the POETRY OF FLOWERS. 123 European Flora, and for some time it was only- possessed by the high and mighty. The follow¬ ing romantic story of its becoming more gene¬ rally known is related by Loudon : In 1699, the Grand Duke of Tuscany ob tained a specimen of jasmine of Goa, with largo double blossoms and of exquisite scent. Greedy of its beauties, he would not allow it to be pro¬ pagated; but his gardener contrived to carry a sprig of it to his betrothed on her birthday, and fully explained to her how to cultivate it. It grow rapidly, and being much admired, the girl was able to sell cuttings of it at a high price. By these means she soon amassed enough mo¬ ney to enable her to wed her lover, who had hitherto been compelled to remain in a state of single wretchedness, for want of means to alter his condition. In memory of this love-legend, Tuscan girls wear a nosegay of jasmine on their wedding-day ; and, says the proverb, “ she who is worthy to wear a nosegay of jasmine is as good as a fortune to her husband.” One of the shrubs of which Milton formed the bower of Adam and Eve in Paradise was jasmine; and Moore, in an allusion to night¬ blooming flowers, thus stveetly introduces this favorite blossom: “Many a perfume breathed From plants that wake when others sleep; From timid jasmine-buds that keep 126 LANGUAGE AND Their odor to themselves all day. But when the sunlight dies away Let the delicious secret out To every breeze that roams about.” \ JASMINE, YELLOW. Bignonia, sempervirens . Class 14; Order 2. GRACE AND ELEGANCE. Like the foam on the wave floating down to the sea. Like the zephyr that flits o’er the grain-covered lea, Like the soft fleecy cloud o’er the face of the moon, Like the sail of a bird on the still air of noon,— So graceful, and airy, and gentle art thou, With thy curls floating free o’er thy radiant brow; So fairy-like moveth thy foot o’er the flowers, They look up and exclaim—“’Twas the step of the Hours !” St. Pierre, in liis “ Studies of Nature,” speak¬ ing of the Carolina jasmine —the token of se¬ paration ,,—says that that tiny feathered fairy, the humming-bird, builds his nest in one of the leaves of this plant, which he rolls up into the form of a cone: he finds his subsistence in its red flowers, resembling those of the foxglove, POETRY OF FLOWERS. 12" the nectareous glands of which he licks with his tongue; he squeezes into them his little body, which looks in these flowers like an eme¬ rald set in coral, and sometimes gets so far that he may be caught in this situation. In the Orient, jasmine is deemed emblematic of the sweets of friendship. It is a very favor¬ ite flower with the Hindoo ladies, who perfume their apartments and their hair with the blos¬ soms of the large flowering kind, known as the champaca. Sir William Jones says the Brah¬ mins of this province insist that the blue cham- pac flowers only in Paradise ; and in allusion to this flower Moore says : “ A tear-drop glistened Within his eyelids, like the spray Prom Eden’s fountain, when it lies On the blue flower which Brahmins say, Blooms nowhere but in paradise.” The golden-colored chainpac Moore, in his “Lalla Rookh,” thus sweetly introduces: “ The maid of India, blest again to hold In her full lap the champac’s leaves of gold, Thinks of the time when, by the Ganges’ flood, Her little playmates scattered many a bud Upon her long black hair, with glassy gleam Just dripping from the consecrated stream.” 128 LANGUAGE AND JONQUIL. Narcissus, Jonquilla . . Class 16 ; Order 1 Flowers golden, emitting a pleasant but powerful per¬ fume ; narrow, naked leaves. AFFECTION RETURNED. That tbou art loved, this flower my witness be! In tbe bright morning, noon, or starry night, One thought my bosom fills—it is of thee ! And thou dost make all hours and seasons bright. To see thee, hear thee, know that thou art nigh, Oh, this is joy unknown to me before; All other thoughts are gone when thou art by— Thou fill’st my heart—it can contain no more 1 JUDAS FLOWER. UNBELIEF. The botanical name of the Judas-tree is from the Greek, and signifies a little sheath ; but the more ominous title, by which it is known to the English, Germans, and French, is derived from the supposition that Judas hanged himself upon it, although Gerarde and other ancient writers POETRY OF FLOWERS. 12* on sylvan subjects assign that ghastly associa¬ tion to the elder. 'Ihe blossoms of the European variety of this tree are of a very beautiful bright purple, and come out in spring in large clusters on every side of the branches, and often of the stem, and are in full blow before the leaves have attained half their size. The American Judas-tree is called ‘‘red-bud tree.” On account of the beauty of its flowers, the Spaniards call this plant “the tree of love,” and certainly that designation accords well with the exquisitely pathetic legend of “ The Wayside Inn,” with which the late Adelaide Proctor, Barry Cornwall’s gifted daughter, has enwoven it. JUNIPER. PROTECTION. This plant became the emblem of protection , from the circumstance of the prophet Elijah having been sheltered from the persecutions of King Ahab by a juniper of the mountains. Says the Psalmist, “ Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” The Italian name for the juniper is Ginebro, which Ariosto, by the license usually permitted 9 130 LANGUAGE AND to poets, assumed to be a convertible term with Genevi’a, the name of his ladye-love; and ac¬ cordingly, in his Seventh Sonnet, he found occa sion to immortalize her memory under a floral fancy, as did his great compatriot Petrarch, when coupling the name of his adored Laura with the laurel—that “ Petrarch pale,” whom Mrs. Browning has so gloriously sculpt in that magnificent Pantheon, “ The Vision of Poets,” as he ‘‘Who from his brain-lit heart hath thrown A thousand thoughts beneath the sun, Each perfumed with the name of one. “ Tasso, bard and lover, Whose visions were too thin to cover The face of a false woman over,” determined to follow in the footsteps of his illus¬ trious countryman, has also left us two sonnets adapted to a similar purpose. Noble emblem this with which to cheer the heart of our best beloved! this symbol of the protection which they may find in the security of our love. How beautifully has Moor°, in one of his melodies, expressed this sentiment! “ Come, rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer: Though the herd have fled from thee, thy home is still here; Here still is the smile that no cloud can o’ercast, And a heart and a hand all thy own to the last. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 131 “ Ob ! what was love made for, if ’tis not the same Through joy and through torment, through glory and shame ? I know not, I ask not if guilt’s in that heart, I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art. “ Thou hast called me thy angel in moments of bliss. And thy angel I’ll be mid the horrors of this; Through the furnace unshrinking thy steps to pur* sue, And shield thee and save thee—or perish there too!” KING CUP.—BUTTER CUP. Ranunculus . Class 3 ; Order 13. A very glossy, yellow flower, common in our fields in June. It is sometimes found double in gardens. I WISH I WAS RICH. Oh, had I wealth, upon thy shrine I’d pour its lavish treasures forth, Aud every jewel should be thine That glistens in the sea or earth. Oh, had I wealth, no want should come To breathe its blight upon thy heart; And round thy rich and beauteous home Should cluster every gem of art. 13J LANGUAGE AND Oh, had I wealth, I’d lay it all With pride and pleasure at thy feet; And thou should’st shine in home and hail. The fairest that the eye could meet. LABURNUM. Cytisus . Class 17 ; Order 4. Flowers purplish, or yellow. PENSIVE BEAUTY. Thought, like a bird of drooping wing, Sits hushed upon thy brow; While from thine eyes’ deep shaded spring A thousand feelings flow. Thou art like some lone, brilliant star, Some planetary light, That glitters, radiant and afar, Within the depths of night. Thy beauty has a twilight grace, Half shadowy and half bright— A curtain o’er thy radiant face Of intellectual light. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 133 LADY’S SLIPPER. Cypripedium . Class 20 ; Order 2. Flowers, purple, pink, yellow, CAPRICIOUS BEAUTY. Changing ever, who can dare Trust his feelings to thy care? Smiling now, and now so vexed, Who knows what to look for next ? Who can love thee if they would; Or would love thee if they could? What but agony and fear, First a smile and then a tear, Could attend a true devotion To a heart of such commotion ? Nay, capricious one! believe me, Thine’s no more the power to grieve me! “ When angry—for even in the tranquillest climes Light breezes will ruffle the blossoms sometimes— The short passing anger, but seemed to awaken New beauty, like flowers that are sweetest when shaken.” Moore. “Come, come, ’twill not do! put that purling brow down, You can’t for the soul of you, learn how to frown.” H. K. White. 131 LANGUAGE AND LARKSPUR, PINK. Delphinum . Class 13 ; Order 3, Flowers blue, white, and pink. A very handsome, showy blossom, easy of cultivation. FICKLENESS. Thott art not what thou wert,— Farewell, and may God bless thee; My heart with strength is girt Once more to say, God bless thee! Thou hast forgot thy vow— I give thee back its token ; ’Tis but a memory now Of pledges lightly broken. Farewell! we meet no more ; And though I now regret thee. My grief will soon be o’er;— I can, and will, forget thee. “ Inconstant as the passing -wind, As winter’s dreary frost unkind ; To fix her, ’twere a task as vain To count the April drops of rain.” Smollet. FORGET-31E- XO T. % POETRY OF FLOWERS. 135 LAUREL, MOUNTAIN. Rhododendron .... Class 10 ; Order 1. AMBITION. Thou callest me the glorious Sun; Then thou the Moon shalt be ; For idle all the fame I’ve won, Unless conferred on thee. I only covet dazzling light. That I may see tliee shine; And gladly hide myself from sight, To leave the world all thine! Then think not I forget thee, love, Though high my course may be; Not mine the laurel wreath they’ve wove— I won it, love, for thee! However easy a task it may be for the bo¬ tanist, to the florigraphist it is a work of almost insurmountable difficulty to distinguish the Laurel from the Bay , so inextricably are they combined. There appears to be little doubt that the tree really selected to typify glory is the Sweet Bay, or Daphne; whilst the laurel, commonly so called, belongs to another genus, and is scientifically known as Prunus, a word presumedly of Asiatic origin. The sweet bay was deemed by both Greek? 136 LANGUAGE AND and Romans emblematic of victory and clemency. The glories of all grand deeds were signalized by means of laurel crowns; its leaves were deemed very efficacious in the prevention of ill¬ ness, and its shelter was believed to ward off lightning. The emblem of fame well deserves its cogno¬ men of “ sweetthe exquisite fragrance ex¬ haled by its leaves, especially when crushed, is well known. This odoriferous plant was worn by the Delphic priestesses when engaged in their sacrificial rites, during which time they were accustomed to chew some of the leaves and strew them on the sacred fire. The brows of warriors and poets, orators and philosophers, sovereigns and priests, were all adorned with wreaths of these leaves. At the Pythian games —held in commemoration of Apollo’s victory over the Python—a crown of laurel was the prize. The statue of iEsculapius, the son of Apollo, the god of physic as well as of music, was adorned with its leaves: a custom adopted to propitiate that deity, who would assuredly guard from inj ury any place where he found the emblem of his beloved Daphne. Physicians held the bay in great esteem, and, doubtless from its associations, considered it a panacea. When any person was seized with a dangerous illness, it was customary with the Greeks to fix a branch of laurel over the door¬ way, in order to avert death and drive away evil POETRY OF FLOWERS. 137 spirits. It is supposed that from these prac¬ tices arose the fashion of crowning young doc¬ tors of physic with laurel-berries (bacca lauri), whence are derived the terms of “ bachelor” and “laureate.” “Students,” says Mr. Phillips, in his “ Sylva Florifera,” “ who have taken their de¬ grees at the universities, are called bachelors, from the French baclielier , which is derived from the Latin baccalaureus, a laurel-berry. These students were not allowed to marry, lest their duties of husband and father should take them from their literary pursuits ; and in time all single men were called bachelors.” Hardy and flourishing as the bay-tree appears, when it withers it withers very rapidly ; and this circumstance renders it likely that the fol¬ lowing allusion in the Thirty-seventh Psalm applies to this tree: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not; yea, 1 sought him, but he could not be found.” The laurel bears the classic appellation of Daphne, because ot the ancient legend connect¬ ing it with the nymph of that name, who, ac- carding to Ovid, was daughter of the river-< r od Peneus. Apollo beheld her, and at once became enamor )d of her beauty : but the fair Daphne tied from his importunities, and, fearful of beino- vaught, called to the gods for assistance: they 138 LANGUAGE AND answered her prayei’s by transforming her in to the laurel. Apollo finding that he held nothing but a hard tree in his embrace, saluted its vivid green leaves with fond kisses, crowned his head with its leaves, and ordained that ever after that tree should be sacred to his godhead. Ovid thus recounts this fact: “I espouse thee for my tree; Be thou the prize of honor and renown; The deathless poet and the poem crown. Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn, And, after poets, be by victors worn.” LETTUCE. Lactuta . Class 18; Order 1. A common garden vegetable. Flowers greenish-white, and yellow. COLD-HEARTED. What matters all the nobleness Which in her breast resideth, And what the warmth and tenderness Her mien of coldness hideth, If but ungenerous thoughts prevail When thou her bosom wouldst assail, While tenderness and warmth do ne’er By any chance, toward thee appear? C. F. Hoffman. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 139 LEMON BLOSSOM. Citrus, limon . Class 13 ; Order 1, DISCRETION.—ZEST. ’Tis better, far, than beauty, or the grace That captivates the eye, that sober charm Of thine, which o’er thy words and deeds Keeps constant vigilance. A steward, thou, Faithful to the best riches of thy soul ; And he who puts his trust in one like thee, ’Mid all his cares will find unbroken rest. The Lemon , in every respect so appropriate an emblem of zest, is a variety of the citron, and is consequently a blood relation of the more admired orange. It was first known to Europeans as the Median Apple, having been brought originally from Media. Virgil terms it “the happy apple,” on account of its virtues; and in his second “Georgic” thus sings its praises: “Nor be the citron, Media’s boast, unsung, Though harsh the juice and lingering on the tongue; When the drugged bowl, ’mid witching curses brewed, Wastes the pale youth by step-dame Ilate pursued, Its powerful aid unbinds the muttered spell, And frees the victim from the .draught of hell.” The blossoms of the lemon are deemed typi¬ cal of love's jiddiltj . 140 LANGUAGE AN1) LICHEN.—TALL MOSS. Usrea . Class 24; Order 5. These mosses are fleshy or leather-like substances, growing on trees, and vegetating on naked rocks, drawing sustenance chiefly from the air. DEJECTION.-SOLITUDE. I would not stay for ever here, In this sad world of care and pain ; I would not have life linger on, Or give my thoughts to earth again. I long to close my tearful eyes, Recline my weary, aching head Upon the couch where ail is peace, And rest among the early dead. ******* Inwove with many a darkening thread The texture of my life appears : How vain were all its sweetest hopes, How more than bitter were its tears ? Miss M. A. Dodd. “’Tis ever thus, ’tis ever thus, when Hope has built a bower Like that of Eden, wreathed about with every thorn¬ less flower, To dwell therein securely, the self-deceiver’s trust, A whirlwind from the desert comes—and all is in the dust.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 141 LILAC. Syringa . Class 2 ; Order 1 FIRST EMOTION OF LOYE.-FASTIDIOUSNESS. How sweet and rapturous ’tis to feel Ourselves exalted in a lovely soul!— To know our joys make glow another’s cheek, Our fears do tremble in another’s heart, Our sufferings bedew another’s eye ! Schiller. As the little floweret hideth By the woodland stream, So in youthful hearts abideth Love’s first witching dream. Miss J. A. Fletcher. This attractive and yet unobtrusive flower is well worthy of being selected to emblemize love’s first emotions. Bursting into a profusion of fragrant bouquet-shaped blossoms just at that delightful season of the year when all nature, aroused from its long wintry slumber, decks itself Avith smiles and blushes, the Lilac could scarcely escape being chosen by the observant eyes of poet and lover as a symbol of those in describable feelings of joy which bloom into being when “ Love’s young dream” first bash¬ fully manifests itself. 142 LANGUAGE AND Of the three varieties of this shrub, the blue, the violet, and the white have been thus prettily described: “Nature seems to have delighted in making a finished production of each of their delicate clusters, massive in themselves, and yet astonishing by their variety and beauty. The gradation of their tints, from the first purplish bud to the blanching flower, is the smallest fas¬ cination of their charming blossoms, round which the rainbow seems to revel and to dissolve into a hundred shades and colors, which, com¬ mingling in the general tone and hue, produce a happy harmony that might well baffle the painter and confound the observer.” Lilac, or lilag —a Persian word signifying “ flower”—is supposed to have been introduced into Europe from Persia early in the sixteenth century by Busbeck, a German traveller. Mrs. Sigourney, in allusion to its native land, addresses it : “ Lilac of Persia ! Tell us some fine tale Of Eastern lands; we’re fond of travellers. Have you no legends of some sultan proud, Or old fire-worshipper ? What! not one note Made on your voyage? Well, ’tis wondrous strange That you should let so rare a chance pass by, While those who never journeyed half so far Fill sundry volumes, and expect the world To reverently peruse and magnify What it well knew before!” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 143 Thomson, in his “ Seasons,” could not of course overlook this flower, and in “ Spring,” thus tunes his lyre to hymn its praise: “ Shrubs there are . . . That at the call of Spring Burst forth in blossomed fragrance; lilacs, robed In snow-white innocence or purple pride.” When the lilac-blossom has attained its ma¬ turity, it begins to gradually change color, until at last it becomes of a red hue ; and this afforded Cowper an opportunity of terming them san¬ guine : “The lilac, various in array—now white, Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set With purple spikes pyramidal; as if, Studious of ornament, yet unresolved AVhich hues she most approves, she chose them all.” So sweet a blossom is the lilac, and so sweet are the emotions it represents, that every one must concede that it is one of those lovely and beloved plants which unite the qualities Goethe ascribes to some flowers, of being beautiful only to the eye, and others only to the heart. From the purity of its color and the short dui-ation of its lovely clusters of blossoms, white lilac has been made the emblem of youth. i44 LANGUAGE AND LILY, WHITE. Liliitm candidum . . . Class 65 Order 1 PURITY AND SWEETNESS.-MAJESTY. Ask me not why I should love her : Look upon those soul-full eyes ! Look while mirth or feeling move her, And see there how sweetly rise Thoughts gay and gentle from a breast Which is of innocence the nest— Which, though each joy were from it fled, By truth would still be tenanted ! C. P. Hoffman. Although this flower—dedicated to Juno, queen of heaven—is generally deemed typical of majesty, there are many varied meanings given to the numerous members of its family. The Lily is held in high esteem by many for the frequency with which it is alluded to in the Scriptures. The Jews entertained a great ad¬ miration for its elegant form, which they imi¬ tated in the decorations of their first magnificent Temple; and Christ himself told them to “con¬ sider the lilies of the field/’ The varieties of this graceful flower are ex¬ tremely numerous, although, according to the old fabulists, originally there was only one kind of lily, and that was orange-colored. They give some POETRY OF FLOWERS. 145 marvellous stories to account for its many shapes and tints, which, now-a-days, are as varied as are the hues of the rainbow. One legend tells that Jove, being desirous of rendering the in¬ fant Hercules immortal, caused Somnus to pre¬ pare a nectareous sleeping-draught, which he administered to Juno, who soon fell into a pro found slumber. Whilst the mother of the gods was in this condition, Jove placed the babe to her breast, in order that it might imbibe the divine milk that would insure its immortality. The little Hercules, in his over-eagerness, drew the milk too quickly, and some drops falling to the earth, the white lily, emblematical of 'purity, immediately sprang up. Throughout Spain and Italy the white lily is emblematic of the Virgin’s purity, and is fre¬ quently used to decorate her shrine : in nearly every Catholic country it is especially dedicated to her. The Victoria Regina, so named by Dr. Lind- ley in honor of the queen of England, may be considered as the most magnificent of all lilies, if not, indeed, of all flowers. Its gorgeous, snowy, blush-tinted blossoms attain four feet, and its enormous leaves eighteen feet of circum- ference! An heraldic work, published in France, gives the following singular and interesting account of the lily as an emblem : It is the symbol of 10 14G LANGUAGE AND divinity, of purity, of abundance, and of love , most complete in perfection, charity, and bene¬ diction ; as that mirror of chastity, Susanna, is defined Susa, which signifies the ‘‘lily-flower,” the chief city of the Persians bearing that name for excellency, hence the lily’s three leaves, in the arms of France, meaneth piety, justice, and charity. “Around her shone The light of love, the puritj' of grace, The mind, the music breathing from her face; The heart whose softness harmonized the whole; And oh ! that eye was in itself a soul l” Byron. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 141 LILY OF THE VALLEY. Convallaria, or majalis . . Class 6 ; Order 1. RETURN OF HAPPINESS.—DELICATE SIMPLICITY. Be thy advent the emblem of all I would crave. Bernard Barton. Fair flower, that, lapt in lowly glade, Dost hide beneath the greenwood shade, Than whom the vernal gale None fairer wakes on branch or spray, Our England’s lily of the May, Our lily of the vale. * * * * -x- * * What though nor care nor art be thine, The loom to ply, the thread to twine, Yet born to bloom and fade; Thee, too, a lovelier robe arrays, Than, even in Israel’s brightest days, Her wealthiest king arrayed. Bishop Mant. Tiie Lily of the Valley, sometimes called the May Lily, and in some country villages Ladder to Heaven, in the floral languages of Europe is emblematic of the return of happiness , doubt¬ less in allusion to the season of the year when it puts forth its timid little blossoms. Although this flower is generally spoken of 148 LANGUAGE AND as white, there are several colored varieties be¬ longing to the species ; as, for instance, one with red' blossoms, one with double red, and one much larger than the common sort, beautifully variegated with purple. Keats was very fond of this sly little floral fairy, and says: “No flower amid the garden fairer grows Than the sweet lily of the lowly vale, The queen of flowers.” LOCUST-TREE, GREEN. Robina, caragana . . . Class 17 ; Order 10. A very handsome ornamental tree or shrub. Blossoms white and fragrant. affection beyond the grave. What though the loving heart is wrung By chilling words of cold farewell ? And o’er its dying hopes is flung Their echoing knell? Shall we not meet in that bright land Where parting words are never spoken, Aid love is not a brittle band So lightly broken ? LILY OF THE VALLEY POETRY OF FLOWERS. J49 Shall we not all meet there to love, With love that has no trembling fears. In that dear home, far, far above This land of tears ? LONDON PRIDE. Silme . Class JO; Order 3 FRIVOLITY. Love should have higher, nobler aims. Than mirth, and song, and dance; Oh, then, from sport and idle game3 To higher deeds advance. Throw by thy foolish wit and songs, Thy graceful tricks of art, And, far from fashion’s heartless throngs Add wisdom to thy heart. LOVE LIES A-BLEEDING. Amaranthvs, caudatus. HOPELESS, NOT HEARTLESS. Oh ! had we never, never met, Or could this heart e’en now forget, How linked, how blessed, we might have been, Had fate not frowned so dark between. Moore, *50 LANGUAGE AND LOTUS. Class 17 ; Order 10. ELOQUENCE.-ESTRANGED LOVE. The lotus-flower, whose leaves I now Kiss silently, Far more than words can tell thee, how I worship thee ! Moore. Of the various flowers dedicated to religious purposes by the nations of antiquity, none oc¬ cupy a more prominent position than the Lotus , a species of water-lily. Its sacred blossom was deemed emblematical of mystery by the symbol worshippers of China, India, and Egypt, and, as a natural consequence, was frequently used for architectural adornments by their priests, who always found it advantageous to enshroud the performance of their religious rites under an impenetrable veil of symbolism and secrecy. The Egyptians moreover consecrated the flower of the lotus to the sun, their god of eloquence, and represented the dawn of day by a youth seated upon its blossom. The Indian Lotus is famous for its roseate color, for its powerful fragrance, and because it is in its blossom, which is somewhat larger than the English water-lily, that the Hindoos feign POETRY OF FLOWERS. 151 their cupid Manmadin, whom they picture pin¬ ioned with flowers, was first seen floating down the sacred Ganges. “ He little knew how well the boy Can float upon a river’s streams, Lighting them with his smile of joy, As bards have seen him in their dreams, Down the blue Ganges, laughing, glide Upon a rosy lotus wreath, Catching new lustre from the tide, That with his image shone beneath.” Moore. L. E. L. founded one of her passionate lyrics on this fable. She represented the youthful deity as “ Seated on a lotus flower Gathered in a summer hour; Grasping in his infant hand Arrows in their silken band, Each made of a signal flower, Emblem of its varied power.” Edgar Poe did not oinit to notice love’s floral cradle, and in his most musical, most melan¬ choly rhyme, sang of “The nelumbo-bud that floats for ever With Indian Cupid down the holy river.” 152 LANGUAGE AND MAGNOLIA. Magnolia, glauca . . . Class 13; 0/ clo 13 MAGNIFICENCE.—LOVE OF NATURE. This superb emblem of magnificence was named Magnolia by Phimier, in honor of Pierre Magnol, a well-known writer on botanical sub¬ jects. It is a native of the Southern States. It begins to blossom in May, and continues a long time in flower, perfuming the woods during the whole of the summer months. Kalen says that he seldom found the magnolia north of Pennsyl¬ vania. “They may be discovered,” he adds, “ by the scent of the blossoms at the distance of three quarters of a mile if the wind be favor¬ able. It is beyond description pleasant to travel in the woods at that season, especially in the evening. They retain their flowers three weeks. Their berries, also, look very handsome when they are ripe, being of a rich red color, and hanging in bunches on slender threads.” Chateaubriand, in his romance of “ Atala,” referring to an Indian superstition which sup¬ poses that the souls of departed infants enter into flowers, says: “I gathered a magnolia- blossom, and placed it, yet moist with dew, upon the head of Atala, who still slept. I hoped that, according to my religion, the soul of some new-born infant would descend on the crystal dew of this flower, and that a prosperous dream would convey it to the bosom of mv beloved,” POETRY OE FLOWERS. 163 MALLOW, MARSH. Lavatera . Class 16 ; Order 13. A very delicate garden flower, but scentless. Flowers white or bright pink. SWEET DISPOSITION. The friend we love is youthful and fair, And gentle and pure as the angels are; Sincerity dwells in her earnest eyes, And her soul is warm as the southern skies ! Oh, the friend we love is a friend indeed,— She’s ever true in the hour of need ! Mrs. Scott. “I saw her coral lips to move, And with her breath she did perfume the air; Sacred, and sweet, was all I saw in her.” Shakspeare. “ When we gaze upon that face, B1 mining in innocence and truth, We think of better worlds than this, Of other beings pure as thou.” Hadleck. “Young as beautiful 1 and soft as young ! And gay as soft! and innocent as gay ! And happy, if aught happy here, as good 1” Young. 154 LANGUAGE AND MAPLE. A cer . Class 8 \ Order ), There are several species of the maple, five of which are large trees, and valuable both for timber and saccharine matter. RESERVE. A veil is round thee, and thy heart Is like a hidden flower; But could wc see thee as thou art, We should confess thy power. Oh, throw that modest screen aside, And let us read thy heart; Thou canst- not all its goodness hide— Oh why, then, veil a part? “ She listens with a flitting blush, With downcast eyes, and modest grace, For well she knew I could not choose But gaze upon her face.” Coleridge. “ Like as a hind She flies away, of her own feet afear’d; And every leaf, that sbaketh with the least Murmur of wind, her terror hath increast.” Spenser. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 155 MARVEL OF PERU.—FOUR O’CLOCK. TIMIDITY. As sacred as the light She fears to perfume, perfuming the night. Edgar A. Poe. The belle of the night, as the gallant French have prettily named this sweet emblem of bash¬ ful love, was christened the Marvel of Peru, because of the wonderful diversity of colors in the flowers. Frequently from the same roots may be seen blossoms “ Changing from the splendid rose, To the pale violet’s dejected hue.” But what renders this bashful little floral gem a favorite flower, is the fact that it is one of those “ plants which wake when others sleep,” of which only a very few retain their nocturnal watchfulness in these colder climes, whatever may be their habits in their native tropics. Rare, indeed, amongst us, are those plants of which the poet sings: “ Thy flower, her vigil lone hath kept, With Love’s untiring care ; Though round her pinks and violets slept, She wakefully hath watched, and wept Unto the dewy air.” 166 LANGUAGE AND The ordinary marvel of Peru bedecks Lself with a profusion of gay blossoms, which it con¬ tinually replenishes, in mild seasons retaining its beauty from the beginning of July to the end of October. In warm weather the flowers do not unclose till the evening; but when the days are cooler, and the sun obscured, the timid little blooms keep open the whole day. The Forked Marvel is a native of Mexico, and its blossoms, which are smaller than 'those of the other varieties, do not vary in their color, which is a purple red. It is known as the “four o’clock flower,” because of the flower’s opening at that time of the day. The sweet-scented varieties of these flowers have white blossoms, and they, as do the other kinds, remain closed during the day, and keep “ Their odor to themselves all day, But when the sunlight dies away, Let the delicious secret out To every breeze that roams about.” The odor of these flowers, however, is not ad¬ mired by every one, since it is of musk, to which many have a decided antipathy. “The half-suppressed glance of an eye admiring, The tremulous rays of an evening sky, The startled fawn from the hunter retiring, The fluttering light of a taper expiring— Apt emblems afford of Timidity.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 157 MAKYGOLD. Calendula , officinalis . . Class 19 ; 0\ der 4. CONTEMPT.—'GRIEF. Leave me to my lot! Be it or death or slavery, it were bliss To what thy love would proffer! I am free! Talk to the wild bird battling with the storm, Of shelter in the cage; or woo the kid From the bluff rocks to nestle at thy feet; But mock not me with bribes ! The classic name for this flower is Calendula , which some writers translate into the “flower of all the months;” a title given to it, they add, in consequence of its blossoming the whole year—a statement scarcely borne out by facts. By old English poets these plants are called “golds;” the name of the Virgin Mary was a very frequent addition in the middle ages to anything useful or beautiful, and so in course of time this flower became known as the mary- yold. Why so dazzling a bloom should have become the emblem of grief it is difficult to say, but in many lands it is regarded as such. Although alone, however, the marygold expresses grief, by a judicious admixture with other fiow’ers its moaning may be greatly varied. For instance, 158 LANGUAGE AND combined with roses it is symbolic of “ the bit ter sweets and pleasant pains of love:” whilst amongst Eastern nations a bouquet of mary- golds and poppies signifies “ I will allay your pain.” Associated with cypress, the emblom of death, marygolds betoken despair. Linnaeus has remarked that the marygold is usually open from nine in the morning till three in the afternoon ; this foreshows a continu¬ ance of dry weather: should the blossom re¬ main closed, rain may be expected. This cir¬ cumstance, and the fact of its always turning its golden face towards the giver of day, has caused this plant to be sometimes termed “ the sun follower,” and the “spouse of the sun.” Ever-watchful Shakspeare remarks in “ Cym- beline,” that when “Phoebus ’gins arise,” the “ winking marybuds begin to ope their golden eyes.” Another noteworthy property of this flower is that it lasts out all its floral compeers, and continues blooming until stopped by the frost. In her “Farewell to the Flowers in Autumn,” Mrs. Sigourney acknowledges this virtue of the neglected plant: “ Coarse marygold, in days of yore I scorned thy tawny face, But since my plants are frail and few, I’ve given thee welcome place.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 159 The marygold is sometimes considered the flo- rigraphical sign of prediction, because it is used by our lads and lasses, as is the daisy by those of France, and the aster by those of Germany, to determine whether they are beloved or not by the object of their thoughts. MEZEREON; DAPHNE. Daphne , odor a . Class 8 ; order 1. COQUETRY. The genus to which this shrub belongs is named Daphne, from the nymph beloved of Apollo, some of the species greatly resembling the bay, into which tree that maid was trans¬ formed. The most beautiful member of this fragrant-leaved family is the Mezereon, the em¬ blem of coquetry. The stalk of this bush is covered with a dry bark, which causes it to re¬ semble dead wood ; but, early in the spring, be¬ fore the leaves appear, it bedecks itself with garlands of red flowers, wreathing them round each of its sprays, and terminating each coquet¬ tish curl with a small leafy tuft. Thus it is, as Cowper expresses it, “ Though leafless, well attired, and thick beset With blushing wreaths investing ev’ry spray.” The mezereon is very sweet scented; and. where there are many near each other, they 160 LANGUAGE AXT) perfume the air to a considerable distance. It is said, but on very dubious authority, that this fragrance is dangerous to human beings. A good yellow dye is extracted from its branches, and a useful and valuable medicine from its bark. The berries, which are a violent poison, are yellow on the white-flowered, and red on the peach-colored varieties. The silvery-leaved species is very pretty. Its leaves are white, small, soft, and shiny as satin ; between them blossom thick clusters of Avhite bell-shaped flowers, tinged inside with yellow. Another variety, which is a native of Jamaica, is known as “lace-wood.” The inner bark is of such a texture that it may be drawn out in long webs like lace, and has been actually worn as such. Charles II. had a cravat made of it presented to him. It is sad, but too true, that very many fair daughters of Eve might appropriately adopt this flower as their emblem ; their conversation is prompted by no deeper feelings than that lady whom Mrs. Browning represents as saying “'Yes,’ I answered you last night; ‘No,’ this morning, sir, I say. Colors seen by candle-light Are different seen by day. When the viols played their best, Lamps above and laughs below, Love me sounded like a jest, Fit for yes or fit for no.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 1CI MIGNONETTE. Reseda, odorata .... Class II; Order 3. Flowers very fragrant. Color greenirh wjte, with yellow stamens. YOUR QUALITIES SURPASS YOUR CHARMS. Beauty consists not in the sparkling eye. The damask cheek and lip, or forehead high Not in the graceful form, or glistening hair Or melody of voice ! Oh no ! not there ;— But in the soul, which every glance displays Basking for ever in affection’s rays— Speaking in love’s soft tones, with sunlight smile, Which can an aching heart from woe beguile! It dwelleth there in majesty supreme, Sweeter than music’s voice, or seraph’s dream ! Miss H. J. Woodman. The Mignonette , the “little darling” of the French, has an extremely appropriate significa¬ tion, viz., your qualities surpass your charms ; but as it is very dubious as to how many of Eve’s fair daughters would now-a-days care to have so double-faced a compliment paid them, it behooves all young would-be Benedicts to be wary how, and to whom, they present the fiowerling. 11 162 LANGUAGE AND ‘ Bland, fragrant flower! from morn till eve That scents the summer day, To many a home, which but for thee No flower would e’er survey. The artisan in attic pent, 'he weaver at his loom, The captive in his prison cell, Each hail and bless thy bloom.” A celebrated gardener, speaking of this flower, and of the delightful odor which it dif¬ fuses, states that “as it grows more readily in pots, its fragrance may be conveyed into the house. Its perfume—though not so refreshing, perhaps, as that of the sweetbriar—is not apt to offend the most delicate olfactories.” Offend, indeed ! one would think not! Why, the great Linnaeus himself compared its fragrance to the scent of heavenly ambrosia! MOSS. Sycojpodium . Class 22 ; Order 2. There are many different kinds of moss, all of which are greatly admired for their verdure and beauty. MATERNAL LOVE. Number thy lamps of love, and tell me now How many canst thou re-light at the stars, And blush not at their burning ? One !—one only !— Lit while your pulses by one heart kept time, POETRY OE FLOWERS. 163 And fed with faithful fondness to your grave— (Though sometimes with a hand stretched back from heaven) Steadfast through all things—near when most forgot—• And with its finger of unerring truth Pointing the lost way in thy darkest hour. One lamp— thy mother’s love —amid the stars Shall lift its pure flame changeless, and before The throne of God burn through eternity— Holy—as it was lit and lent thee here. N. P. Willis. MYRTLE. Myrtus . Class 12 ; Order 1, LOVE IN ABSENCE. I miss thee each lone hour, Star of my heart! No other voice hath power Joy to impart. I listen for thy hasty step. Thy kind, sweet tone ; But sorrowing silence whispers me, Thou art alone ! Darkness is on the hearth— Nought do I say ; Books are but little worth— Thou art away ! *64 LANGUAGE AND Voices, the true and kind, Strange are to me ; I have lost heart and mind, Thinking of thee,. Mrs. Suott. The Myrtle, like the rose, is generally con¬ sidered symbolic of love, and by the Greeks and Romans was consecrated to Venus, around whose temples they planted groves of it; and, when the votaries of this goddess sacrificed to her. they, like her attendant graces, wore myr¬ tle chaplets. Mythologists assert that she, the Goddess of Beauty, was crowned by the Hours with a wreath of this plant when she sprang from the foam of the sea, and also that her head was decked with it when Paris awarded her the golden apple, the prize for supremacy of beauty. Once, when surprised by a troop of satyrs as she emerged from her bath, she found shelter behind the foliage of a myrtle; and it was with bunches of the same plant that she caused the unfortunate Psyche to be chastised, for having been so audacious as to compare her earthly charms with the celestial beauty of her mother- in-law. It was under the name of Myrtilla that Venus was worshipped in Greece. This shrub is supposed to have derived its name from Myrsine, an Athenian maiden, and favorite of Minerva, said to have been meta¬ morphosed into the myrtle; at any rate it owes its origin to a Greek word signifying, 'perfume. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 165 Not only was this plant environed with the sanctity of love, but its beauty and fragrance likewise rendered it a favorite with several na¬ tions of antiquity, who gave particular atten¬ tion to odorous shrubs. With the Jews the myrtle is a symbol of peace , and, with that sig¬ nification attached to it, many allusions are to be found in the Old Testament. All Oriental nations have a passionate fond¬ ness for this flowering shrub. The Arabs have a tradition that Adam, when expelled from Pa¬ radise, brought the myrtle—the chief of sweet- scented flowers, into the world with him. With the Greeks, this flower was much admired : their groves, so renowned in song, were fragrant with its perfume, which the richness of the climate rendered far stronger than in ours. The Athenian magistrates wore chaplets of myrtle, as symbols of their authority ; and conquerors, who during their triumphs had obtained a bloodless victory, were allowed to entwine their laurel wreaths with sprigs of myrtle. Thus hymns Moore, in a higher flight than is usual with him, when his young hero is con¬ temning the indolent and effeminate luxury around him : “It was not so, land of the generous thought, And daring deeds thy god-like sages taught; It was not thus, in bowers of wanton ease, Thy freed >m nursed her sacred energies; 166 LANGUAGE AND Oh ! not beneath the enfeebling, withering glow Of such dull luxury did those myrtles grow, With which she wreathed her sword when she would dare Immortal deeds; but in the bracing air Of toil, of temperance, and of that high, pare, Ethereal virtue, which alone can breathe Life, health, and lustre into freedom’s wreath.” Herrick, who was as apt as Milton himself at a classic allusion, thus offers to propitiate Venus: “Goddess, I do love a girl, Ruby lipped and toothed with pearl. If so be I may but prove Lucky in this maid I love, I will promise there shall be Myrtles offered up to thee.” Not only are its blossoms beautiful, but, even when flowerless, the deep, lustrous green of its foliage gains the admiration of all beholders, and reminds one of what Professor Wilson re¬ marked: ‘‘They are shrubs, whose leaves of light have no need of flowers.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 167 NARCISSUS. Narcissus, poeticus . . . Class 6; Order 1. Flowers white, very large and fragrant, with a crimson border round the nectary. SELF-LOYE. Nature’s laws must be obeyed, And this is one she strictly laid On every soul which she has made Down from our earliest mother : Be self your first and greatest care, From all reproach the darling spare, And any blame that she should bear Put off upon another. Had Nature taken a second thought, A better precept she had taught, And good instead of evil wrought By those the power possessing; For self had been put out of sight, The love of others brought to light; In short, the wrong had all been right, And man to man a blessing. The white or poetical Narcissus is aptly- adopted as the florigraphical sign of egotism , in¬ asmuch as, according to the mythologists, it owes its origin to a beautiful youth of Bceotia, of whom it had been foretold that he should 168 ( LANGUAGE AND live happily until he beheld his own face. One day, when heated by the chase, Narcissus sought to quench his thirst in a stream • in so doing he beheld the reflection of his own lovely features, of which he immediately became en¬ amored, and, doubtless as a retribution for having slighted the charms of the nymph Echo, the conceited lad was spellbound to the spot, where he pined to death, and was metamor¬ phosed by the gods into the flower that now bears his name. When the Naiads had lament- ingly prepared the funeral pile for the beautiful youth, his body was missing; “ Instead whereof a yellow flower was found, With tufts of white about the button crowned.” and ever since is seen “ Narcissus fair As o’er the fabled fountain hanging still.” The poetic Narcissus has a snow-white flower, with a yellow cup in the centre, fringed on the border with a brilliant crimson circlet. It is sweet-scented, and flowers in May. The cup in the centre is supposed to contain the tears of the ill-fated Narcissus. Keats terms it “ a lovely flower “ A meek and forlorn flower, with nought of pride.” POETRY OP FLOWERS. 16& NASTURTION. Tropcealum ...... Class 8 ; Order 1 Flowers golden yellow. Very brilliant. Plant some¬ what creeping. PATRIOTISM. Hail to the land whereon we tread, Our fondest boast! * * * There is no other land like thee, No dearer shore; Thou art the shelter of the free,— The home, the port of liberty, Thou hast been, and shalt ever be, Till time is o’er. Ere I forget to think upon My land, shall mother curse the son She bore. J. 0. Percital. “ Crown ye the brave ! crown ye the brave ! As thro’ your streets they ride, And the sunbeams dance on the polished arms Of the warriors side by side; Shower on them your sweetest flowers, Let the air ring with tbeir praise.” Hemans. 170 LANGUAGE AND NIGHTSHADE. Solanum nigrum .... Class 5 ; Order ! A very extensive genus—moro than 100 species are found in America. It has white flowers, with yel¬ low anthers. DARK THOUGHTS.-SCEPTICISM. March— march—march, Earth groans as they tread! Each carries a skull. Going down to the dead. Every stride, every stamp. Every footfall is bolder;— ’Tis a skeleton’s tramp, With a skull on its shoulder. But oh ! how he steps With a high-tossing head, That clay-covered bone, Going down to the dead. A. C. Coke. ‘ Ah me ! the laurel wreath that murder wears, Blood-nursed and watered by the widow’s tears, Seems not so foul, so tainted, and so dread As waves the nightshade round the sceptic’s head.” Campbell. POETRY OP FLOWERS. 171 OAK TREE. Quercus . Class 21; Order 13. The oak embraces about eighty species, chiefly in Europe and America. It lives to a great age. The flower has no corolla. HOSPITALITY.-BRAVERY AND HUMANITY. Thanks for the kindly courtesies Beside thy hearthstone shared; Be every joy that round it lies Aud every blessing spared. The roof that over me hath spread A shelter kind and warm, Oh, may it shield thy generous head From every chilling storm ! For kind, indeed, have been thy cares Since ’neath its shade I came! I’ve shared in all thy household prayers— Thou shalt in mine the same. “And the oak, king of Britannia’s woods, And guardian of her isle.” Dodsley. “ The Oak, the king of forests all,” was con¬ sidered the most sacred of all trees by the chief nations of antiquity, and its existence deemed 172 LANGUAGE AND coeval with the earth’s. No faith hut appears to have associated its rites with this symbol of majesty and strength. Biblical lore abounds with allusions to this “ tower of strength.” It was “ under the oak which was by Shechem,” that Jacob buried the strange gods and ornaments of his household. Under the “ oak of weeping” Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was interred. The Lord’s messenger that appeared to Gideon “ sat under an oak;” and it was by the branches of one of these trees that Absalom, David’s beloved but rebellious son, was caught, and met with death. “The oaks of Bashan,” that mystic land Avhere dwelt the mighty king Og and his gigantic followers, are called to mind, together with numerous other allusions to the hospitable tree—to that tree which many ancient races be¬ lieved to have afforded shelter to the first human beings. Oak leaves were worn in marriage ceremonies, at the festivals’held in honor of Ceres, and also by husbandmen at the beginning of the harvest. To the Roman soldier who saved the life of another in battle a chaplet of oak-leaves was awarded. Shakspeare makes Cominius say of Coriolanus: “At sixteen years, When Tarquin made a head from Rome, he fought Beyond the mark of others. He proved best man i’ the field, and for his meed Was brow-hound with the oak.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 173 OLEANDER BEWARE ! I KNOW they have pleaded, the friends that are round thee ; I know they have warned thee, entreated and wept; They have shown thee the guile in the spell that hath bound thee, [crept. And the serpent tvhose coils round thy spirit have Yet still the grim cavern yawns wide to receive thee, And now, while no terrors thy spirit oppress, I urge this last prayer, not to frighten or grieve thee,— Oh, no! but to sai:e thee, redeem thee, and bless. I pray thee, beseech thee, if e’er thou hast loved me, By all our past sorrows, and trials, and tears, By all the caprices with which thou hast proved me, Return to the truth of thine earlier years ! ORANGE-BLOSSOM. Citrus aurantium . . . Class 12; Order 12, CHASTITY. My little bird, my pretty bird, Thou once wast wild and free, And gaily then thy voice was heard In the starry orange-tree. Beneath deep skies-of glowing blue. Thy golden plumes would float, And fragrant flowers of pearly hue Contrasted with thy coat. 174 LANGUAGE AND Alas ! my bird, in sunshine drest, No more thou art wild and free; No more thou’lt find thy little nest In the dark green orange-tree. Within that bright and glowing isle, 'Mid flowers thou’lt live no more,— And yet my bird, beneath my smile, Sings sweeter than before. My pretty bird, my golden bird, I once was wild and free: In song my voice was often heard, And sunshine dwelt with me, But now I’m caged, mj' pretty bird And now must rove no more, And yet my heart, my golden bird, Beats happier than before. Orange-blossom is generally deemed typical of chastity, because of its being customary for brides to wear a wreath of it on their wedding- day. Bridal bonnets frequently display an arti¬ ficial spray of these flowers. In his “Ode to Memory,” Tennyson alludes to the custom of using these blossoms at nuptials thus: “ Like a bride of old, In triumph led, With music and sweet showers, Of festal flowers, Unto the dwelling she m ist sway.” POETRY OP FLOWERS. 175 These lovely, sweet-scented flowers, which have so much to do with blushing brides and bridal ceremonies, would certainly hold a foremost place in those fresh flowers which Mrs. Hemans bids us bring with which to crown the maid : “Bring flowers, fresh flowers, for the bride to wear! They were born to blush in her shining hair. She is leaving the home of her childhood’s mirth, She hath bid farewell to her father’s hearth; Her place is now by another’s side— Bring flowers for the locks of the fair young bride.” According to the poets and mythologists, these precious apples only grew in the gai’dens of the Ilesperides, where they were preserved from all intruders by a guard of never-sleeping dragons. It was one of the twelve labors of Hercules to obtain some of them. These, again, were the golden apples given by Venus to the venture¬ some Ilippomenes, by means of which he won Atalanta. Probably Spenser’s opinion was just, and this was the fruit whose bestowal upon Venus gave origin to the Trojan war, as it was also the instrument by which the crafty Acon- tius obtained his spouse. What numberless le¬ gends, poems, and fables are indeed associated with its bright, auriferous hue, its glossy leaves, and its exquisitely perfumed flowers ! What dreams of future happiness, what memories ot bygone bliss, are connected with its symbolic blossoms! 176 LANGUAGE AND PANSY.—HEART’S-EASE. Viola, tricolor . Class 5 ; Order 1. This flower has three colors—purple, yellow, and blue. It is much cultivated, and highly esteemed. YOU OCCUPY MY THOUGHTS. I have sweet thoughts. of thee! They come around me like a voice of song; They come like birds that to the south belong, And wear a gayer wing, and brighter crest, Than those that on the rooftree build the nest; They come more tender, beautiful, and bright Than any thoughts that others can excite; They tell me gentle tales of thee and thine ; Of gems of truth that in thy spirit shine; Of goodness, purity, and holy zeal, That can for others earnest pity feel; Of all things beautiful in soul and heart,— And such they tell me, dearest, that thou art! The Heart’s-ease, as its French name of pansy or pensee intimates, is symbolical of remem¬ brance. It is a beautiful variety of the violet, far surpassing that flower in diversity and bril¬ liance of color, but possessing little, if any, of the exquisite fragrance for which that is so re¬ nowned. Its lovely diversification and contrasts of color, combined with the glossy velvet sheen of its petals, renders it a much-admired floral POETRY OF FLOWERS. 177 pet. It appertains to a very extensive family, and is found in many portions of the globe; it grows wild in Japan, Languedoc, Italy, and in our own country. A very pretty pale yellow va¬ riety may often be discovered nestling amid the wheat. “ There are pansies : that’s for thoughts,” says Shakspeare, and describes the pansy as originally milk-white, until it got struck by a shaft which that little unbreeched rogue Cupid had aimed at Diana, so that it is now “purple with love’s wound.” Mrs. Siddons is said to have been much ena- nored of this blossom, and to have used it for edgings to all the borders of her flower-beds. This floral pet, having received much atten¬ tion from the feminine world, has been very ap¬ propriately designated “ the ladies’ flower,” a name which is not the most fanciful that it has acquired, for, to quote once more our great dra¬ matist, maidens call it “love in idleness.” “ Three-pretty-faces-under-one-hood” is an¬ other of its pretty titles. A few years since the heart’s-ease rvas a hum¬ ble little flower quite unknown to floral fame: in the year 1812, however, lady Mary Bennett entertained a penchant for the flower, and had a small garden planted entirely with it. Desi¬ rous of pleasing hex’, the gardener selected the „ 12 178 LANGUAGE AND seed of the choicest varieties, and to his pleasur¬ able astonishment, on germinating, the seedlings displayed the most marvellous diversity of beauty and style. Milton’s “pansy freaked with jet,” and even Shakspeare’s purple “love in idle¬ ness,” were far outshone by these pampered children of Nature. Their breeder proudly dis¬ played his triumphs to fellow-florists, and in a little Avhile the heart’s ease ranked among the flowers of fashion. \ Heart’s-ease is not so modern an appellation for this flower as is generally supposed. 13un- yan, in his “Pilgrim’s Progress,” represents the guide as saying to Christiana and her child¬ ren, of a boy who was singing beside his sheep, “Do you hear him? I will dare to say this boy leads a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called heart’s-ease in his bosom, than he that is clothed in silk or purple.” Leigh Hunt—one of its most intense admir- ers _(jj )s erves, “The Persians themselves have not a greater number of fond appellations for the rose, than the people of Europe for the heart s- ease. . . . The modern Latin name lor it is Fios Jovis, or Jove’s flower—a cognomen rather too worshipful for its little sparkling delicacy, and more suitable to the greatness of an hydrangea, or to the diadems ol a rhododendron. ‘ Jove’s own flower, that shares the violet s pride, Its want of scent with triple charms supplied.’ ” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 179 PASSION FLOWER. Passifiora . Class 16 ; Order 2. Indigenous to America ; at the South, the dowers are bright red; at the North, pale blue, or yellow. RELIGIOUS FERVOR. How should the soul with adoration glow, To that great power, eternal and supreme, Who gives us faculties for joy and woe, And hope and reason guarding each extreme ! Who paints on sorrow’s clouds the rainbow beam That cheers our spirits through sad mists of tears, And bids the heaven-lit taper brighter gleam As down the dark declivity of years We seek the better clime, where Truth her temple rears. Mrs. Broughton. Most of the Passion Flowers are natives of South America; and although some of them open their starry-leaved blossoms to the less glowing sun of these colder climes, it is only in the land of their birth they can be seen in all their unsurpassed loveliness. Those who would view this glorious symbol of faithfulness in its unshorn loveliness must seek it in the immense forests of Brazil, amid all that grandeur “ boundless as our wonder,” of which Humboldt has so nobly told. There, in that fane, most Catholic and. solemn,” “The faint passion flower, the sad and holy, Tells of diviner hopes;” LANGUAGE AND 180 and there it was that its delicately-shaped bios som attracted the notice of the Spaniards, who were desolating nature with fire and sword, under the pretence of spreading the religion of peace and goodwill towards all men. In the thread-like colored stamens which sur¬ round the flower-like rays, and in the various curious portions that combine to form this 11 floral apostle,” are discovered a representation of the crown of thorns, the scourge, the cross, the sponge, the nails, and the five wounds of Christ; indeed, all the terrible paraphernalia necessary to portray the Passion of Jesus. PEA, EVEELASTING. Lathyras, latifolia . . . Class 17 ; Order 4. Flowers purple, crimson, and white. There are about forty species of this genus; four in America. WILT THOU GO AWAY? One moment o’er my chequered path Thy smile hath shed its gladdening ray : A rainbow on a cloud of wrath— And wilt thou, also, go away ? ***** Thou’rt going ! Well, thou knowest, What prayers arise for thee; And whereso’er thou goest Bear gentle thoughts of me. POETKY OF FLOWERS. 131 PEA, SWEET. Lathyrus, odoratus . . . Class 17: Order 4. Very beautiful, and possessing much of the fragrance of the pink. The flowers are variegated with blue, lilac, rose, white, Ac., all in the same flower. Stalks two-flowered. DEPARTURE. Unnoticed fell the sere and yellow leaf, Unheeded swept the morning breezes by; The fading flowers awoke no throb of grief, There was no sadness in the wind’s low sigh; Could gloom or sorrow cloud the dying year, When thou, the summer of my heart, wert near? One hour hath passed—and o’er the deep blue sky, A dimness hangs, whose chill is in my heart; The wind with funeral moans goes sweeping by, And asks in every whisper where thou art; The sunshine hath gone with thee and the flowers And frost hath chained the fairy-footed hours. “Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight, With wings of gentle flush or delicate white, And taper fingers, catching at all things, To bind them all about with tiny ring3.” Keats. 182 LANGUAGE AND PEACH BLOSSOM Amygdalus, Persica . . Class 12 ; Order J. Flowers beautiful, rose or pink color. I AM YOUR CAPTIVE. On, is it sin to love the very air That once hath rested on thy beaming brow ? To gaze in fondness on thy vacant chair, And on thy books and flowers, deserted now ? Or turn in worship on that pictured face, Whose sweetest looks the heart alone can trace ? Is it a sin to live again each hour Passed in thy presence?—to recall thy tones, Thy playful words, thy serious thoughts, whose pcwer Thrills every nerve my quickened spirit owns? Is it a crime to worship and adore What is so good ?—the Ideal asks no more. PERIWINKLE. Vinca , minor . Class 5 ; Order 1. TENDER RECOLLECTIONS—EARLY AND SINCERE FRIENDSHIP. In France the Periwinkle , which there is some¬ times called “ the magician’s violet,” is con- POETRY OP FLOWERS. 183 sidered the emblem of sincere friendship, and as such is much used in their language of flowers. The English have adopted this evergreen plant as the representative of tender recollections. In Italy the country people make garlands of this plant, to place upon the biers of their de¬ ceased children, for which reason they name it the “ flower of death.” But in Germany it is the symbol of immortality; and, because its fine glossy myrtle-green leaves flourish all through the winter, they term it ‘‘winter verdure.” Its bright blue blossoms and still brighter green leaves have not been overlooked by the poets; and we find Eliza Cook introducing it into her pathetic poem of “ The Blind Boy:” “We asked him why he wept, mother, Whene’er we found the spots Where periwinkle crept, mother, O’er wild forget-me-nots. ‘Ah me!’ he said, while tears ran down As fast as summer showers; ‘It is because I cannot see The sunshine and the flowers.” The Madagascar periwinkle is a lovely plant, with an upright stem three or four feet high; its flowers are crimson or peach-colored on the tipper surface, and a pale flesh-color on the under : it varies with a white flower, having a purple eye. It will seldom live out of doors in this climate 184 LANGUAGE AND PHLOX.—WILD SWEET WILLIAM. Phlox maculta . Class 5; Order 1. A North American plant; perennial. Flowers purple, pink, lilac and white. UNANIMITY. Where’er thou goest, I will go Where’er thou diest, die; S Together in one humble grave Our slumbering dust shall lie. And I will love thy chosen friends— Thy people shall be mine ; And we will kneel to praise one God Before one common shrine. Our souls—ah ! what shall part our souls ? In ties of love entwined, They will defy the spells and chains That even death can bind. “ I like this flower, Sweet William ; on its leaf The smile the giver wore I see, And though that smile, so sweet, was passing brief, This simple flower can fix its memory.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 185 PIMPERNEL. CHANGE. More bitter far than all It was to know that love could change and die. A. A. Procter. This bright little emblem of change does not unfold its brilliant petals until eight o’clock in the morning, and refolds them towards noon : this habit has obtained for it the cognomen cf “ the poor man’s weather-glass whilst for its usefulness in foretelling the approach of rain, it is frequently known as “ the shepherd’s warn¬ ing.” Few who have passed a portion of their life in the country but are acquainted with this property of the pretty little pimpernel. When¬ ever its tiny scarlet blossoms are seen folding up their delicate petals, it may be deemed a certain indication of approaching rain. Should rainy weather endure for several days, the pimpernel is said to lose its sensibility, and fails to foretell the coming change. There is a blue variety of this little blossom, as also a rose-colored one, but this latter is very rare. A pure white kind, with a beauti¬ ful purple centre, is sometimes met with in Wales. Doubtless it was some such symbol floweret as this frail emblem of change which Holmes pictured in his “ mind’s eye” when he sang: 186 LANGUAGE AND “Some years ago, a dark-eyed maid Was sitting in the shade— There’s something brings her to my mind In that young dreaming maid— And in her hand she held a flower, A flower whose speaking hue Said, in the language of the heart, ‘Believe the giver true.’ “And as she looked upon its leaves. The maiden made a vow, To wear it when the bridal wreath Was woven for her brow. She watched the flower, as, day by day, The leaflets curled and died; But he who gave it never came To claim her for his bride. “ Oh, many a summer’s morning glow Has lent the rose its ray, And many a Winter’s drifting snow Has swept its bloom away; But she has kept that faithless pledge To this her Winter hour, And keeps it still, herself alone, And wasted like the flower.” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 187 PINE, PITCH. Finns rigida . Class 21; Order 61 TIME AND FAITH. Wait thou for Time, but to thy heart take Faith, Soft beacon-light upon a stormy sea : A mantle for the pure in heart, to pass Through a dim world, untouched by living deatl . A cheerful watcher through the spirit’s night, Soothing the grief from which she may not flee— A herald of glad news—a seraph bright, Pointing to sheltering havens yet to be. Miss Lucy Hooper. PINE SPRUCE.—NORWAY FIR. Pinus abies . Class 21; Order 8. HOPE IN ADVERSITY. The cloud may be dark, but there’s sunshine beyond it; The night may be o’er us, but morning is near ; The vale may be deep, but there’s music around it; And hope ’mid our anguish, bright hope is still here. Still here, though the wing of dark sorrow is o’er us. Though bitterness dregs every cup that we drink ; With a smile in her eye, she glides ever before us, To yield us support when we falter or sink. Blessed hope ! like a star on the darkness of ocean, St : 11 gleam o’er the track where our destinies tend ; And guide our frail hearts from this sea of commotion, To havens of peace where our sorrows will end. 188 LANGUAGE AND PINK, CARNATION. Diantlius rubeus . . . Class 10; Order 2 woman’s love. Man’s love lives but with hope ; while woman’s heart Still echoes to the music of the past. * * * * * * * A love all sacrifice and suffering; a star That gathers lustre from the gloom of night j' A martyr’s fond idolatry ; a faith Baptized in tears, to sorrow consecrate. Mrs. AVhitman. The Pink is typical of pure love. Florists have two principal divisions of these lovely flowers—pinks and carnations. The latter is much larger and fuller leaved, but not more fra¬ grant, than its little sister. The high rank which this extensive genus held in the estima¬ tion ol the Greeks and Homans may be learned from its nomenclature. By the former people it was called the “divine flower” ( diantlius ), the name it still retains; to the latter race it was known as Flos Jovis, or “Jove’s Flower;” that title, according to some, being bestowed on it for its remarkable beauty : but awarded to it, others say, for its super-eminent fragrance. The bearded pink is better known as the Sweet William, under which well-known designation POETRY OF FLOWERS. 189 it will be found in this volume. Of one type of this odoriferous group, the Clove Pink, the va¬ rieties are endless ; all exhale the most exquisite of scents. Whilst the larger kinds are those known as carnations, the smaller are termed “gillyflowers,” which is a floral name more fre¬ quently sung of by our ancient poets, from dear old Chaucer downwards, than any other. This cognomen is supposed to be a corruption of “July flower;” but that derivation has been much questioned of late. Shakspeare, ever ready to pay a floral com¬ pliment, makes Perdita say, “The fairest flowers o’ the season Are our carnations and streaked gillyflowers.” And the readers of Spenser and Milton will find these flowers’ names “ as familiar in their mouths as household words.” Some of our old authors frequently style them “ sops-in-wine,” from the fact, it is alleged, that they were employed in flavoring dainty dishes, as well as wine and other drinks; and they who maintain this theory cite a rather problematical passage of Chaucer’s in support of it. “ And there the beauteous carnation stood, With proud, disdainful eye.” 190 LANGUAGE AND PINK, RED DOUBLE Dianthus rubeus. . . . Class 10; Order 2. Root perennial. Blowers very fragrant. PURE AFFECTION. I never have loved theeyet strange though it be So soft are the feelings I cherish for thee, That the wildest of passions could never impart More joy to my soul, or more bliss to my hfeart. They come o’er my breast in my happiest hours, They come like the south wind that ruffles the flowers. A thrilling of softness, a thrilling of bliss— Say, is there no name for a passion like this? It cannot be friendship—it cannot be love; Yet I know the sweet feeling descends from above, For it takes from my bosom no portion of ease, Yet adds all the rapture, the pleasure of these: For so soft the emotion my spirit hath nursed, It is warm as the last, and more pure than the first; For my heart when near thine grows soft as a dove— Yet it cannot be friendship—it cannot be love. Mrs Amelia B. Welbv, ‘ Deep in the grove beneath the secret shade, A various wreath of odorous flowers she made, Gay mottleyed Pinks and sweet Jonquils she chose, All sweet to sense— The finished chaplet well adorned her hair.” Shenstone. POETIIY OF FLOWERS. 191 POLYANTHUS. Primula, auricula . . . Class 1 ; Order 5. Tt is a native of the Alps; originally yellow, but when cultivated it assumes the most diversified colors. Perennial. PRIDE OF RICHES.—CONFIDENCE. I grieve to see thee vain and proud—I grieve That this world’s honors have enticed thy heart. Such haughty airs become thee not. Por me, I better love a modest mien and look Than all the gaudy tinsel wealth can buy, Or vanity display. Put by thy pride, And by a holy life earn nobler praise Than such as pomp and idle show can win. “ Trust in thee!” Ay, dearest, there’s no one but must, Unless truth be a fable, in such as thee trust! For who can see heaven’s own hue in those eyes, And doubt that truth with it came down from the skies ; While each thought of thy bosom, like morning’s young light, Almost ere it is born, flashes there on his sight! C. F. IIoffman. 192 LANGUAGE AND The Polyanthus is twin sister to the Auricula , and both of them belong to the primrose clan. The former is the hardier, but less admired, of the twain, and will survive the coldest and wet¬ test seasons. Like all the plants of its genus, it is an early blower, being one of the first flowers that welcome in the spring. “ The polyanthus of unnumbered dyes,” as Thomson calls it in his “ Seasons,” is asserted to be merely a variety of the field primrose, produced by the skill of the gardener. It was known, however, to the ancients by the name of “ Paralysis,” and was believed to have sprung from the ashes of a youth of that name, who pined to death for the loss of Melicerta, who, to escape the mad fury of Anthamas, King of Thebes, plunged into the sea and was drowned. The Auricula , significant of a ichisper , was formerly known to botanists as Auricula ursi , or “ bear’s ear,” from the shape of its leaves : it was also formerly spoken of as “ mountain cowslip.” In its original state it is either yellow or white, and the skill of the florist has brought it to its present rich hues of brown or purple, some¬ times edged with green or centred with gold. Thomson talks of “Auriculas, enriched With shining meal o’er all their velvet leaves,” POETRY OF FLOWERS. 193 POPPY. Pap aver, rhceas .... Class 13 ; Order 1. Of this plant opium is made. Flowers scarlet, purple, crimson, and white. EYANESCENT PLEASURE.—CONSOLATION.—FANTAS¬ TIC EXTRAVAGANCE.—OBLIVION. Lf.t the deep waters of oblivion roll O’er all that irritates or grieves thy soul; Let time its drapery of ivy throw O’er every painful monument of woe; And in forgetfulness thy sorrows lose, Since this is all the refuge thou canst choose, Wherein to hide thy heart from memory’s pangs, Or flee the cloud that o’er thy pathway hangs. The Poppy is used as the floral sign of conso¬ lation ; chiefly, it is supposed, because, as the Greek mythologists tell us, it was created by Ceres whilst in search of her daughter Proser¬ pine, as a soother of her grief. The well-known somniferous qualities of the poppy are adduced as another reason why it should be deemed symbolic of consolation and of oblivion. That it, the producer of Nature’s sweet restorer, balmy sleep, should be chosen as the emblem of the alleviation of our trou¬ bles, does indeed appear just. Shakspeare, ti)4 LANGUAGE AND Spenser, ami others frequently allude to the “ drowsy poppy” as productive of ‘‘the easer of all our woes.” Leigh Hunt calls it the blissful poppy,” from its soothing and sleep- inducing properties. PRIMROSE, EVENING. JEnothera odorata . . . Class 5; Order 1. INCONSTANCY.—SILENT LOVE. Hast forgotten the days, love, the long-vanished days, When our spirits communed through the bird and the flower; When the stars linked our thoughts by their glittering rays, In a chain that had more than electrical power? Those days were the violet blossoms of love— Young flowers that have faded and shrunk from thy view; But though withered, forgotten, to thee they may prove, They are pressed to one heart ever faithful and true. “Love us as emblems, night’s dewy flowers.” Mrs. Hemans. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 195 The Evening Primrose, emblematic of silent love, does not unclose her cup of paly gold until her lowly sisters are rocked into a balmy slum¬ ber, and until “ The moon Lifts up Night’s curtains, and with visage mild Smiles on the beauteous earth, her sleeping child.” She loves to look the pale moon in the face, and often in the witching hour of deep midnight, when stars keep their watch on high, you may see the hospitable plant surrounded by such in¬ sects as avoid the light of day—warmly-coated moths, and beetles of various kinds, which re¬ sort to her for their nightly banquet. Often, when the nights are dark, and not the slightest breath of air is stirring, her petals emit a mild phosphoric light, and look as illu¬ minated for a holiday. Every part is conse¬ quently rendered visible ; and he who does not fear to be out in her wild and lonely growing- place, may see a variety of nocturnal ephemera and insects hovering around the lighted petals or sipping at the vegetable fountains, while others rest among the branches, or hurry up the stems as if fearing to be too late. The phosphores¬ cent light thus kindled answers, without doubt, the purpose of a lamp, to guide the steps or flight of innumerable living creatures that love the night; and this is the more essential, be¬ cause flowers of all kinds are generally closed. 196 LANGUAGE AND ROSE, AUSTRIAN Tlosa bicolor . Class 12; Order 13. Leaflet fine. Flowers small. A few species found in China and Japan, and nine or ten in North America. THOU ART ALL THAT IS LOVELY. Thy beauty wins my heart By its unstudied grace ; There is no show of art In thy sweet, radiant face; But soft simplicity and youth, And gentle love and sunny truth, Around thy face a spell have thrown, That wins and makes me all thine own. By universal suffrage the Rose has been voted to be the loveliest amongst the children of Flora. There is scarcely a name of any note in the world’s literature that has not paid a wil¬ ling tribute to the beauties of the “ bloom of love.” It is a native of the East, whence it travelled westward. It has now become an inhabitant of every civilized country, and opes its glowing petals to the sun in every quarter of the globe. Its scent is the most exquisite, its colors the most fascinating, and its verdure the most refreshing of all the beauties of nature. HYBRID ROSE. POETRY OP FLOWERS. 19 : The rose is mentioned by the earliest writers of antiquity. Herodotus speaks of the double rose; in the Song of Solomon is the expression, “ I am the rose of Sharon and allusion is also made therein to the plantation of roses at Jericho. Isaiah makes use of the beautiful thought— “ The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.” ROSE, BRIDAL. Rub us Rosafolius . . Class i 2 ; Order 13. This belongs to the Bramble family. The flowers are small, white, double, and very beautiful. HAPPY LOVE. It has been said that love doth bind the heart More strongly to the fading things of earth. Not so with us; our spirits have no part With feelings which are but of mortal birth ; We love for heaven—let heaven become our home, Ere yet the angel beckon us to come. And are you happy? asks some gentle one, In low, soft accents, and with thoughtful eye. Yes, dear, and more than happy, though the sun Is softly clouded, and the deep blue sky Grows deeper that it is not flushed with light,— Though all the clouds that shade it are of white. 198 LANGUAGE AND Loudon seems to think that the white rose (typical of silence ), and the yellow rose (typify¬ ing infidelity), were unknown to the ancients. Those ancients fabled that the red rose was originally white, but received a rosy hue from blood drawn by a thorn from the foot of Yenus, as she was hastening to the aid of her adored Adonis. Carey fancifully ascribes its ruddy tint to the kisses of Eve ; and some to those of the Goddess of Love, from whose bath, Greek writers say, it originally sprang ; whilst the full- bosomed cabbage-rose, they say, sprang from the tears of Lycurgus, the enemy of Bacchus. Those glorious ancients who regarded the rose as the emblem of silence, as well as of love and joy, frequently represented Cupid offering one to Harpocrates, the god of Silence; and on fes¬ tive occasions suspended a rose over the table, intimating to the assembled guests that the con¬ versation was to be literally, as well as meta¬ phorically, “ under the rose.” This latter account is generally given as the correct derivation of the saying “ sub rosa ,” applied to communica¬ tions not to be repeated ; but some writers say that the rose was dedicated to Harpocrates, and thus became the emblem of taciturnity, for which reason it is frequently placed over the confessionals in Roman Catholic Churches, in¬ dicating the secrecy which should attend what¬ ever may be there disclosed to the priest. POETRY OP FLOWERS. 199 It does seem strange that flowers—and of all flowers, that most brilliant one, the rose—should be so often associated with death and sorrow • and yet the combination is a universal one! formerly, the rose was blended with the lily to form a general emblem of frail mortality. ROSE-BUD, MOSS. Rosamuscosa .... Class 12 ■, Order 13. CONFESSION OF LOVE. I do believe that unto thee Truth, honor, plain sincerity, Are jewels far before All that the others think are dear; And yet far more than they I fear, Because /love thee move! And yet I hope, because I love With thoughts that set thee far above Vain Fortune's glittering store; Others may deem thou canst be won By things that sparkle in the sun, But oh ! I love thee more! G. P. R. James. Some of the mythologists ascribe the origin oi the rose to the beautiful Ilhodante, Queen of 200 LANGUAGK AND Corinth, who, to escape from the persecutions of her lovers, attempted to seclude herself in the Temple of Diana; being forced from her sanctuary by the clamor of the people, she prayed the gods to metamorphose her into a flower, and the rose, into which she was changed, still bears the blushes that dyed her cheeks when forced to expose herself to public gaze. The fragrance with which this u earth star” is so richly endowed, is stated by those same poet¬ ical ancients to be derived from a cup of nectar thrown over it by Cupid; and its thorns, they say, are the stings of the bees with which the arc of his bow was strung. ROSE, DEEP RED. Rosa Rubor. BASHFUL LOVE. The blushing rose that hangs its head, Or meets the sun with shrinking dread, Conceals within its heart a flame Which from that glowing noontide came. So have / loved—but some strange spell Forbids my heart its tale to tell; Here,—take this simple rose, and feel The love my lips dare not reveal. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 201 Of all the beautiful things said about this most beautiful of Flora’s children, the most delicate and the most apposite appears to us to be “ The Dying Rose-bud’s Lament,” by the late Mrs. Osgood. “ Ah, me ! ah, woe is me ! That I should perish now, With the dear sunlight just let in, Upon my balmy brow. “ My leaves, instinct with glowing life, Were quivering to unclose; My happy heart with love was rife— I was almost a rose. “Nerved by a hope, rich, warm, intense, Already I had risen Above my cage’s curving fence, My green and graceful prison. “My pouting lips, by Zephyr pressed, Were just prepared to part, And whispered to the wooing wind The rapture of my heart. “ In new-born fancies revelling, My mossy cell half-riven, Each thrilling leaflet seemed a wing To bear me into heaven. 402 LANGUAGE AND u How oft, while yet an infant flower, My crimson cheek I’ve laid Against the green bars of my bower, Impatient of the shade; “ And pressing up and peeping through Its small but precious vistas, Sighed for the lovely light and dew That blessed my elder sisters. ‘‘I saw the sweet breeze rippling o’er Their leaves that loved the play, Though the light thief stole all the store Of dew-drop gems away. “ I thought how happy I should be Such diamond wreaths to wear, And frolic with a rose’s glee With sunbeam, bird, and air. “ Ah, me ! ah, woe is me ! that I, Ere yet my leaves unclose, With all my wealth of sweets, must die Before I am a rose.” It scarcely appears possible that this sweet, suggestive lay could be the production of a girl only fourteen years old, yet that that was her age at the time of its composition poor Edgar Poe, an intense admirer of the poetess, assures us. POUTIIY OK FLOWERS. 203 ROSE, FULL MOSS. Rosa muscosa. Flowers bright crimson—very fragrant. Sometimes the blossoms are white or pink. Flowers at top of the branch large, double. Native of South of Europe. SUPERIOR MERIT. I never saw a form before Of such unrivalled loveliness, Nor one who was of earth who wore The look of heaven upon her face. £ never knew a heart so kind, Such tears for others’ misery flow, Nor saw a hand so gladly bind The crushed and bleeding heart of woe. Her spirit was from sin so free, Such gladness round her path she shed, That all who knew her purity Poured blessings on her bright young head. In this cold world I never found But one to whom my heart was dear; But thousand cords of love had bound Her being to this changeful sphere. Phcebe Carey. 204 LANGUAGE AND ROSE, FULL RED. Rosa rubifolia. Native of Switzerland and Savoy. Stem erect. Tha whole plant, branches, leaves, stalks, and tube of the calyx, are tinged with red. BEAUTY. Thy looks how lovely! and thy faces So eloquent with mental grace! Thy motions are as light and free As zephyrs o’er a summer sea;— Thou art, in truth, a wayward child, Thy words so gay, thy steps so wild ; And none can see thee speak or move Without some glow akin to love! The short life of this august flower ofttimes causes it, when fading , to be deemed a suitable representative of feeling beauty , and many are the ‘‘morals” that poet and philosopher have deduced from this stage; but there is also an¬ other record to be made, and that is of its fra¬ grance after death : the flush of beauty may be gone from its withered petals, but the scent of the rose will cling to it still. Even a dead rose —emblem of sweet memories —“ doth bequeath a charm to sweeten death,” because, though “ pale, and hard, and dry as stubble wheat,” yet, as Elizabeth Barrett Brown¬ ing tells us, POETRY OF FLOWERS. 206 ‘ The heart doth recognise thee, Alone, alone! The heart doth smell thee sweet, Doth view thee fair, doth judge thee most complete. Perceiving all those changes that disguise thee, Yes, and the heart doth owe thee More love, dead rose, than to any roses bold, Which Julia wears at dances, smiling cold! Lie still upon this heart, which breaks below thee!” There is a highly imaginative stanza in ‘Alnwick Castle,” by Halleck, in which these token-flowers are suggestively introduced: “ Wild roses by the Abbey towers Are gay in their young bud and bloom— They tuere born of a race of funeral f owers, That garlanded, in long-gone hours, A Templar’s knightly tomb.” KO SEMARY. REMEMBRANCE. There’s rosemary for you: that’s for remembrance. Shakspeare. Numberless quotations from the older poets might be given to prove that our forefathers in¬ variably adopted Rosemary as the symbol of re- 2u6 LANGUAGE AND membrance; and as it was once believed to pos¬ sess the power of improving the memory, and was frequently employed as a means of invigor¬ ating the mental faculties, it is presumed, and with some show of probability, that it thus be¬ came the emblem of that quality with which it was so frequently associated. Perdita, in the “Winter’s Tale,” says: "For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep Seeming and savor all the winter long : Graee and remembrance be with you both !” And in Hamlet, Ophelia says : “ There's rosemary for you : that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.” Highly esteemed as this plant was because of its being considered “ a comforter of the brain,” and a strengthener of mental faculties—and for these reasons deemed typical of that fidelity and devotion to the gentler sex which is presumed to have been a prominent characteristic of the days of chivalry—rosemary was also still more prized as a decoration at bridals and other domestic occa¬ sions. It was worn at weddings, to signify the fidelity of the lovers. Rosmarinus, as this plant is botanically styled, signifies the “dew of the sea,” and is so called because of its fondness for the sea-beat shores, whence its perfume often greets the mariner as he sails by. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 207 This plant is likewise often planted near or upon graves, to which practice Kirk White thus mournfully refers: “Come, funeral flower! who lovest to dwell With the pale corse in lonely tomb, And throw across the desert gloom A sweet decaying smell; Come, press hay lips, and lie with me Beneath the lowly alder-tree, And we will sleep a pleasant sleep, And not a care shall dare intrude, To break the marble solitude, So peaceful and so deep.” In the days of yore, Rosemary was in great request at Christmas-tide for decorative pur¬ poses: the roast beef was crested with bays and rosemary; the flaming tankards were flavored with sprigs of it, and the liquor stirred with it, in order, as our ancestors fancied, to improve its flavor. It was considered very ornamental, and its silvery foliage was a favorite decoration of the garden walls. In Queen Elizabeth’s time it grew all over the walls of the gardens at Hamp¬ ton Court Palace; but now is banished from the flower to the kitchen garden, and there, indeed, lingers half neglected. 208 LANGUAGE AND SCABIOUS, SWEET. Scabiosa atro-purpurea . . Class 4 ; Order 1 . Native of India and South of Europe. Flowers very sweet; color purple, red, and variegated. The dark purple has been entitled “Mourning Bride.” WIDOWHOOD.—UNFORTUNATE ATTACHMENT. Ah, fare-thee-well, thou loved and worshipped one! For death is at my heart: such death as steals To the young leaf when autumn frost and sun Tinge all its veins with beauty wbich conceals ’Neath radiant dyes the wasting of its heart.— So shall I too in quiet smiles depart. SNOWBALL. Viburnum opulus .... Class 5 : Order 3 . A genus found in Europe, America, and Japan. Cymes large, flowers white, berries scarlet. THOUGHTS OF HEAVEN. ’Tis good To be subdued at times; the heart is wooed By these pure impulses to purer things. Cherish within your soul whatever brings Moments of sweet communion with high thought. POETRY OP FLOWERS. 209 Joy hath its ministries. But griefs are fraught With gentler blessings. Let them come in soft And tender eloquence, and bear aloft Your faith on the wide spirit-wings of prayer. SNOWDROP. Galanthus rivalis . . . . Class 6 ; Order 1 . Native of Europe. There is only one species and two varieties. Flowers white as milk—among the earli¬ est that appear in spring. FRIEND IN NEED.—HOPE. The snowdrop, Winter’s timid child, Awakes to life, bedewed with tears, And flings around its fragrance mild • And, where no rival flowerets bloom Amidst the bare and chilling gloom, A beauteous gem appears. * * * * Where’er I find thee, gentle flower, Thou still art sweet and dear to me! h or I have known the cheerless hour, Have seen the sunbeams cold and pale Have felt tbe chilling wintry gale, And wept and shrunk like thee. 14 210 LANGUAGE AND Tins first-born flower of the flowers of sprin is generally deemed the emblem ofhope, althoug some have regarded it as symbolic of humility, of gratitude, of consolation, of innocence, and, lastly, but by no means least—of friendship in adversity. STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Ornithogalum . Class 6; Order 1. Root bulbous. Flowers white, six-petalled, with no calyx. GUIDANCE.—RECONCILIATION. Pale as the pensive cloistered nun, The Bethlehem star her face unveils, When o’er the mountain peers the sun, But shades it from the vesper gales. “ Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end.” Milton. “ And well do vanished forms enhance The charm of every brightened glance; And dearer seems each dawning smile, For having lost its light awhile.” Moore. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 211 ST. JOHN’S WORT. Hypericum . Class 18 ; Order 4. A genus of one hundred species, dispersed over the world. Flowers yellow and briliant. It possesses medicinal properties. SUPERSTITION.-ANIMOSITY. I must gather the mystic St. John’s wort to-night. The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide If the coming year shall make me a bride. From the German. This bright yellow blossom, with its glittering golden stamens, is very well known by its gene¬ ric name of hypericum , but as the floral symbol of superstition, its old English appellation of St. John’s wort seems most appropriate. In the earliest records of the wonderful properties as¬ signed to this world-renowned emblem, it is styled fugas demonum, or devil's flight, because the virtue was ascribed to it of frightening away l< auld Ilornie,” and all his mischievous crew, of defending folks from spectres, and of generally putting all evil-disposed apparition? to the rout. To the peasantry of France, and of the less educated countries of Germany, this flower is still endowed with marvellous qualities ; and on the nativity of St. John the 212 LANGUAGE AND Baptist—that is to say, on the 24th of June— it is customary for the villagers to gather and hang over the cottage doors and windows some of these blossoms, in the belief that its sanctity will deter malevolent spirits from entering the abode, and will also propitiate their patron saint in favor of the inmates. Another remarkable quality ascribed to this plant by our ancestors was the power it pos¬ sessed of curing all sorts of wounds, and in this belief, doubtless, originated its name of i tutsan, an evident corruption of its French cog¬ nomen, la toute saine , or all heal. If the blossoms are gathered and steeped in olive oil, and the bottle hung up exposed to the sun, until the oil becomes of a beautiful red color, the gatherer will then possess a most valuable household cure for all cuts and bruises of the flesh where the skin is broken ; it is in¬ valuable also for all galls and bruises on horses. No one living in the country should allow the period of bloom to pass by without collecting a supply and making the “red oil” of the shops. POETRY OR FLOWERS. 213 STRAWBERRY. PERFECT EXCELLENCE. Untouched by mortal passion, Thou seem’st of heavenly birth, Pure as the effluence of a star Just reached our distant earth. SUNFLOWER, DWARF. Helianthus Indicus . , Class 19; Order 3. Indigenous to America, except two species in India and Egypt, ADORATION.-FALSE RICHES. The rose needs not the summer light, The bird needs not the sheltering tree, So much as I, in sorrow’s night, Need smiles from thee. Oh, never let thine eye grow cold, Thy cherished voice grow rude to me; But let thy lip, as oft of old, Still smile on me. 214 LANGUAGE AND SWEET WILLIAM. Dianthus barbatus . . . Class] 0; Order 2, Indigenous to Germany, but naturalized in our coun¬ try. Flowers aggregate, one stem supporting a large and brilliant bunch of blossoms. Root pe¬ rennial. GALLANTRY.-FINESSE.-DEXTERITY. The knights of old might envy thee Thy courtly grace of mien, Thy noble daring, brave and free, In every dangerous scene. To age how kind thy courtesy, To woman how sincere 1 Alike removed from vanity, From artifice and fear. The Sweet William , a member of the Pink family, from the charming manner in which it arranges its variegated blossoms into bouquet- shaped clusters, is well worthy of its florigraphi- cal name of finesse. . The Bearded Pink, as it is sometimes desig¬ nated, is known to the French as the ‘‘poet’s eye,” because of the manner in which its petals are marked. rOETUY OF FLOWERS. 215 SYEINGA, CAROLINA. Philadelphus Inodorus. . Class 12; Order 1. This species of mock orange is a native of the South¬ ern States. MEMORY.—FRATERNAL LOVE. Oh, Memory ! thou only wakener of the dead ! Thou only treasurer .of the vanished past! How welcome art thou when bright hope is fled, And sorrow’s mantle o’er the soul is cast? Back o’er those days, too beautiful to last, Thy gentle hand will lead the saddened thought! And though the tears may trickle warm and fast, Yet thy sweet pictures wilh such peace are fraught, The heart, beguiled, exclaims, “ This is the fount I sought!” Syringa is a Greek word, signifying “ pipe,’^ and its ancient English name was ‘‘pipe-tree. Its classical appellation is Philadelphus, so called after Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, who acquired celebrity tor the intense affection he manifested for his brother: tor this reason Syringa was consecrated to his memory, and has been adopted as the florigraphieal sign of fraternal love. The Syringa is a most delicious shrub: the foliage is luxuriant, the blossoms beautiful, abundant, and of a creamy whiteness, starred with a golden centre, but emitting no fragrant C7 perfume. 216 LANGUAGE AND TUBEROSE. Polyanthus tuberosa . . . Class 2; G:\ler 6. Flowers white, sometimes tinged with pink—resembles a hyacinth—very odoriferous; corolla monopeta- lous ; no calyx ; root perennial. DANGEROUS PLEASURES.—A SWEET VOICE. There is a curious perversion of name in the designation of this flower, which has nothing to do with “tubes,” or “roses,” and is merely a corruption of its botanical title, Poliantlies tube¬ rosa, the latter word simply signifying tuber¬ ous, and the former word, from the Greek, ex¬ pressing city-flower. Its white blossom exhales the most exquisite perfume—a perfume, however, it is alleged, so powerful, that to enjoy it without danger it is necessary to keep at some distance from the plant. Shelley, in verses as inexpressibly beautiful as the object they celebrate, calls “ The sweet tuberose, The sweetest flower for scent that blows.” The Malayans style this floral belle, “ The Mistress of the Night;” a poetical idea that the Irish Anacreon makes use of in his fantastic poem of “Lalla Rookh : POETRY OF FLOWERS. 217 “ The tuberose, with her silvery light, That in the gardens of Malay Is called the Mistress of the Night, So like a bride, scented and bright, She comes out when the sun’s away.” TULIP, VARIEGATED. Tulipa . Class 6-, Order 1. Corolla bell-shaped. No calyx. Color of the flower, in its natural state, crimson. By cultivation it has been made to assume every variety of hue. BEAUTIFUL EYES.-A DECLARATION OF LOVE. Melting, dazzling, tender, bright, Full of Love’s own gentle light; Now downcast, and now uplifted, With a world of beauty gifted ; Drooping now with silent thought ; Now with joy and gladness fraught; Arch and mirthful, soft and pensive, Now assailing, now defensive— Filled with glory from the skies— Ah ! who can describe thine eyes? 418 LANGUAGE AND VERBENA, or VERVAIN. SENSITIVENESS. Tiiine eye at others’ sorrow weeps, Thy lips at others’ joy looks gay ; Thy heart’s deep fount of feeling keeps In gentle, yet perpetual play. The charms of nature thrill thy soul, For nature’s own true child thou art; And waves of earnest feeling roll In ceaseless music through thy heart. VIOLET, BLUE. Viola odor ala . Class 5; Order 1, The genus Viola within its proper limits is almost equally divided between Europe and the temperate parts of North America. Flowers bright blue. FAITHFULNESS. Oh, shame may come upon thy name, And want and suffering dim thine eye But thou wilt find me still the same— For love like mine can never die. I will be thine through weal and woe, Through days of joy and sorrow’s night; My faith like morning’s beams shall glow,— My love shall be thy quenchless light. rOETKY OF FLOWERS. 219 VIOLET, WHITE. MODESTY. The violet is for modesty Burns. Violets, considered by some, including Sco¬ tia’s shepherd bard, typical of modesty , by others are deemed emblematic of faithfulness. The rank which this timid little blossom holds in floral caligraphy is a very exalted one; in¬ deed, the rose excepted, there is not a flower that “tolls its perfume on the passing air,” which is so generally admired and belauded. From Homer down to Tennyson, not a famous poet but has linked its sweetness with his own, and many are the lovely ideas its beauty and fragrance have suggested. The Greeks, who peopled the petals of every blossom and the ripples of every rill with the graceful offspring of their fancy, designated this floweret Ion, which name some enterprising etymologists believe to be a derivation of la, the daughter of Midas and the betrothed of Atys, whom, they say, to conceal her from Apollo, Diana transformed into a violet. Other mytho¬ logical accounts state that Jupiter caused the first sweet violets to spring from the earth as food for persecuted Io, whilst she was hiding, 220 LANGUAGE AND under the form of a white heifer, from the fury of Juno. Ebu Abrumi, an Arabian poet, likens blue eyes weeping to violets bathed in dew. Amongst the English poets who have illustrated this image is Elizabeth Browning: “ Dear violets, you liken to The kindest eyes that look on you Without a thought disloyal.” And in the following lines on a faded violet) Shelley embodies the same pretty fancy : “ The color from the flower is gone, Which like thy sweet eyes smiled on me; The odor from the flower is flown, Which breathed of thee, and only thee. “ A withered, lifeless, vacant form, It lies on my abandoned breast, And mocks the heart which yet is warm, With cold and silent rest. “I weep—my tears revive it not; I sigh—it breathes no more on me ; Its mute and uncomplaining lot Is such as mine should be.” The same poetic comparison is employed by Shakspeare in the “ Winter’s Tale POETRY OF FLOWERS. 221 “Violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes, Or Cytherea’s breath.” The frequent allusions made to “ the nodding violet” by the great dramatist causes it to be regarded as his favorite flower; and that, in the eyes of many, will not be one of its slightest charms. There is no more exquisite passage in the whole range of English poesy than that in u Twelfth Night,” where the Duke, listening to plaintive music, desires “ That strain again : it had a dying fall; Oh, it came o’er my ear like the sweet South, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor.” Whilst the first Napoleon was in exile, this little blossom was adopted by his followers as an emblem: he was styled Le Pere la Violette, and a small bunch of violets hung up in the house, or worn by a Frenchman, denoted the adherence of the wearer to his fallen chieftain’s cause. The White Violet, which is not invariably scentless, as is sometimes erroneously presumed, is emblematic of candor , although some authors adopt it as the representative of innocence. 222 LANGUAGE AND WALLFLOWEE. Cheir ant hits cheiri . . . Class 15 ; Order 2. This is a beautiful, fragrant flower, growing upon old walls, and among the ruins of castles and abbeys. A genus found mostly in Europe and Asia ; a few native species in America. Flowers in',the form of a cross—yellow, and of sweet perfume. FIDELITY IN MISFORTUNE. An emblem true thou art. Of love’s enduring lustre, given To cheer a lonely heart. Barton. WOODBINE. Lonicei'a periclymenon . . Class 5; Order 1. FRATERNAL LOVE. And though that were chaplets on their heue Of fresh woodbind be such as never were To love untrue in word, in thought, in ded®. Chaucer. POETRY OF FLOWERS. 223 ZINNIA. Zinnia multiflora . . . Class 19; Order 2. ABSENCE. The Zinnia’s solitary flower, Which blooms in forests lone and deep, Are like the visions fair and bright, That faithful, absent hearts will keep. “Her cheek was red, but who could know ’Twas flushing with the strife below; Her eye was bright, but who could tell It shone with tears she strove to quell : Ah ! who could think that all so fair Was semblance, and but misery there.” L. E. L. “ Griefs, alas ! that may not speak, Earn poor relief by feigning.” 224 LANGUAGE AND POETRY OF FLOWERS. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. In eastern lands they talk in flowers, And they tell in a garland their loves and cares ; Each blossom that blooms in their garden bowers On its leaves a mystic language bears. The rose is a sign of joy and love, Young blushing love in its earliest dawn ; And the mildness that suits the gentle dove, From the myrtle’s snowy flower is drawn. Innocence shines in the lily’s bell, Pure as the heart in its native heaven ; Fame’s bright star and glory’s swell, By the glossy leaf of the bay are given. The silent, soft, and humble heart, In the violet’s hidden sweetness breathes; And the tender soul that cannot part, A twine of evergreen fondly wreathes. The cypress that daily shades the grave, In sorrow that mourns her bitter lot; And faith, that a thousand ills can brave, And speaks in thy blue leaves—forget-me-not. Then, gather a wreath from the garden bowers, And tell the wish of thy heart in flowers. Percival. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. - * *+* - SENTIMENTS, AND THE FLOWERS WHICH REPRESENT THEM. A belle. Abruptness. Absence. Abuse not. Accommodating disposition. Acknowledgment. Activity.,. Addresses, rejected. A deadly foe is near. Adoration...,. Admiration. Adroitness. Adulation. Adversity, energy in. Adversity, friend in. Advice. Affectation. Affection beyond the grave. Affection, bonds of. Affection, enduring. Affection, maternal. Affection, pure. Affection, returned. 15 .Orchis. .Borage. ..Wormwood. Zinnia. •Crocus. .Valerian. .Canterbury Bell. Lavender. • Thyme. •Ice Plant. • Monkshood. .Dwarf Sunflower. Amethyst. -Spider Oplirys. •Cacalia. .Camomile. • Snowdrop. ..Rhubarb. .Coxcomb Amaranth; Morning Glory. .Locust Tree. .Gilly Flower. ,.G orse. Pear. ..Cinque Foil. ..lied Double Pink. .Jonquil. Sorrel. (225) 226 TIIE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Affection, sacred. ...Yellow Marigold. Affliction. ...Aloe. Black Poplar. Afterthought. ...Large Flowered Aster; Sta~- wort. Age. ....Snowball Tree. Age, winter of.. ...Guelder Hose. Agitation. ...Quaking Grass. Moving X’lant, Rhododendron. Agreement. ...Straw. Aid, asylum. ...Juniper. Alas for my poor heart. ...Beep Bed Carnation. Always cheerful. ...Coreopsis. Always delightful. ...Cineraria. Always lovely. ...Indian Pink, Double. Ambassador of love. .. Cabbage Rose. Ambition of a hero. ....Mountain Laurel. Ambition of a scholar. ...Hollyhock. Amiability. ...White Jasmine. Am I forgotten?. ...Holly. Am I perfectly indifferent to you?. ....Dogwood Blossom. Amusement. ... ...Bladder-nut Tree. Anger. ....Whin, Gorso, or Furze. Peony. Animosity. ....St. John’s Wort. Anticipation. ....Gooseberry. Anxiety, tranquillize my. ...Christmas Rose. Anxious aud trembling. ....Bed Columbine. Ardor . ...Arum. German Iris; Cuckoo Plant. Argument. ....Fig. Artifice. ...Acanthus. Clematis. Catch-fly, Arts . ...Acanthus. Aspiring. ...Mountain Pink. Assiduous to please. ...Ivy Sprig, with Tendrils. Assignation. ...Pimpernel. Asylum. ...Juniper. Attachment. ....Ipomoea. ...Thornless Rose. Attachment, early. Audacity. ....Larch. Austerity. ....Common Thistle. Avarice. ....Scarlet Auricula. Aversion. ...Indian Single Pink. Till*! LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 227 Banquet...Parsley. Bantering.Southernwood. Baseness.Dodder of Thyme. Bashfulness.Peony. Sensitive Plant. Bashful love.Rose, Damask Bed. Bashful shame.Rose. Deep Red. Beautiful, but timid.Amaryllis. Beautiful, call me not.Unique Rose. Beautiful eyes.Tulip, Variegated. Beauty.Party-colored Daisy. Full Red Rose. Beauty, a.Orchis. Beauty always new.China Rose. Beauty and prosperity.Red-leaved Rose. Beauty and innocence.Daisy. Beauty, capricious.Lady’s Slipper. Musk Rose. Beauty, glorious.Glory Flower. Beauty, delicate.Flower-of-an hour. Hibiscus. Venetian Mallow. Beauty, divine...American Cowslip. Beauty is your only attraction..Japan Rose. Beauty, magnifcent.Calla iEtliiopica. Beauty, mental.Kennedia. Clematis Beauty, modest.Trillium l’ictum. Beauty, neglected.Throatwort. Beauty, pensive.Laburnum. Beauty, rustic.French Honeysuckle. Beauty, transient.Night-blooming Cereus. Beauty, unconscious.Burgundy Rose. Beauty, unfading.Giliy Flower. Belief.Passion Flower. Belle, a.Orchis. Beloved daughter.Cinquefoil. Be mine.Four-leaved clover. Be my support.Black Bryony. Beneficence.Marsh Mallow. Benevolence.Caly can thus. Potato. Be prudent...Triptilion Spinosuin. Bereavement.Myroballon. Betrayal.Judas Tree. Betrayed.White Catchfly. Beware.Oleander. Rosebay. 228 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Beware of a false friend.. Be warned in time. Birth.. Bitterness. Blackness.-.. .Ebony. Blemish. Bluntness... Blushes. Boaster, a. Boldness. Bonds of affection. Bonds of love. Bound.•. Bravery and humanity... Bridal favor. .^Geranium Ivy. Brilliant complexion. Bulk. Bury me amid nature’s beau- ties. Business. Busybody. Call mo not beautiful. Calmness. Calumny. Candor . Capricious beauty. Care. Chagrin. Change. Changeable disposition... Charity. Charming. Chastity. Cheerful always. Cheerfulness . Cheerfulness under misfortune Chinese Chrysanthemum. Childishness. Chivalry .. hood. Christian faith. Cleanliness. Coarseness, grossness. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 229 Cold-hearted. .Lettuce. Coldness. .Agnus Castus. Lettuce. Color of my life. .Coral Honeysuckle. .Pear Tree. Comfort. Come down. .Jacob's Ladder. Comforting... .Scarlet Geranium. Compassion. .Calvcanthus. Elder. Allspice. Complaisance.-. .Heed. Concealed love. .Acacia. Motherwort. Conceit. .Pomegranate. Concert . Concord . ....Lote Tree. Confession of love. ....Rosebud, Moss. Confidence. .Hepatica Liverwort. Lilac Polyanthus. Confidence in Heaven. ....Flowering Rush, or Reed. Conjugal love. .Linden, or Lime. Consolation. .Snowdrop. Red Poppy. Scarlet Geranium. Constancy in love. .... Cedar Tree. Blue Hyacinth. Bluebell. Constancy in friendship. .Box. Consumed by love. ....Althea Frutex. Syrian Mai- low. Content. .Houstonia. Coolness. .Lettuce. Coquetry . ....Dandelion. Day Lily. Morn- ing Glory. Spurge Laurel. Cordiality. ....Peppermint. Could you bear poverty?.... ....Browallia Jamisonii. Counterfeit. .Mock Orange. Courage . .Black Poplar. Crime...... .Tamarisk. Criticism. .Cucumber, Cruelty. .Nettle. Cure. ....Balm of Gilead. Cure for the heartache. .Yarrow. Swallowwort. Curiosity. .Sycamore. Danger. ....Rhododendron. Dangerous pleast.res. .Tuberose. Daring. .Pine Tree. Dark thoughts. .Nightshade. 230 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Dauntlessnoss.® ea Lavender. Death.......Cypress. Death preferable to loss ol in- nocence.White Rose (dried). .Apocynum. Dogsbane. Honks U 1 . Hood. White Fly Trap. Go- ran iu m. Deceitful charms.Thorn Apple. Deception..White Cherry Tree. Declaration of love.Tulip, li ed. \ Decrease of love.Yellow Rose. Defect...Henbane. Deformed.Begonia. Dejection '.Lichen. _ Lupine. Tipin v Eupatorium. Fever Root. Delicacy. .Cornbottle. Blue Bottle. S’ the Ban. Colum - bine. Desire...Jonquil. Desire to please.Mezereon. Despair ... .Cypress and Mangold. Despair not, God is everywhereWlnte Julienne. Despondency.Geranium, mourning. Ilumblc- plant. Devotion.Heliotrope, Passion Flower. Dexterity.Sweet William. Difficulty.Black Thorn. Dimity 00 .;:Z::::^r C Elm. Dahlia. Laurel- ^ = 3 . leaved Magnolia. Dignity of mind.Rose, Hundred-leaved. Disappointment.Spring Caroline. Synnga Care lina. Discretion .Lemon Blossoms. Maiden Hair. Disdain ..Yellow Carnation. Hue. Disguise.".Stramonium. Thorn Apple. Disiust.^og Ophrys. Disposition, accommodating.Valerian. Disposition, sweet.Marsh Mallow. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEliS. 231 Dissension. ...Pride of China. Broken Straw Distinction.-. ....Cardinal Flower. Distrust .. ....Lavender. Divine beauty. ...American Cowslip. Docility. .....Rush. Bulrush. Do me justice. ...Chestnut. Domestic economy. ....Houseleek. Domestic happiness... ....Monthly Honeysuckle. Holly Domestic industry. ... Flax. Domestic virtue. ....Sage. Do not abuse.. ....Saffron Flower. Do not deceive yourselves.... ....Saffron Flower. Do not despise my poverty .. ....Shepherd’s Purse. Do not refuse me. ....Escholzia, or Carrot Flower. Doubt. ....Apricot Flower. Dreams. ...Osmurjda. Drunkenness. ...Vine. Duplicity. ....ManchiueeL Duration. ....Dogwood. Cornelian Cherry. ....Blue Periwinkle. Thornless Rose. Early attachment. Early joys.. ....Cowslip. Early youth. ...Primrose. Eclat. ...Indian Cress. Education. ...Cherry Tree. Egotism, self-love. ....Poet’s Narcissus. Elegance. ....Pink Acacia. Locust Tree. Elegance, mature. Elegance and dignity. ...Pomegranate Flower. ....Danlia. Elevation. ...Fir Tree. Eloquence. ...Lagerstraemia Lotus. Embarrassment. ...Love-in-a-puzzle. Enchantment. ...Vervain. Holly Herb. Encouragement... ...Golden Bod. Endurance. ...Pine. Energy. ...Bed Salvia. Energy in adversity. ....Chamomile. Ennui.. ....Mosses. Enthusiast, a religious. ...Lychnis. Envy... ...Crane’s Bill. Bramble. Error.. ...Bee Ophrys. Error, paternal. ....Cardamine. 232 . THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Esteem. ....Sage. Esteem and love. ....Strawberry Tree. Esteem, but not love. Estranged love. .Spiderwort. .Lotus Flower. Excellence, perfect. ....Strawberry. Excellence, unpretending... ....Camellia Japonica. Excess, beware of. Expectation. Expectation, disappointed.... ....Wild Geranium. Expected meeting. ....Nutmeg Geranium. Extent. ....Gourd. s Extinguished hopes. ....Major Convolvulus. Extravagance, fantastic. ....Scarlet Poppy. Eyes, beautiful. ....Variegated Tulip. Eyes, sun-beamed. ....Scarlet Lychnis. Facility. ....Germander Speedwell. Fair and fascinating. ....White Pink. Fairies’ fire. ....Pyrus .Japonica. Faith . .... Passion Flower. Faithfulness. ....Blue Violet. Heliotrope. Faithful in adversity. ....Wallflower. Falsehood. ....Bugloss. Dogsbane. Manehi neel Tree. Yellow Lily. Apo- cyiium. False riches. ....Sunflowef. Fame. —Tulip Tree. Family union. ....Pink Verbena. Fantastic extravagance. ....Scarlet Poppy. Farewell. .Spruce Pine. Fascination. ....Carnation. Honesty. Fern. Fashion. ....Lady’s Mantle. Queen’s Rocket. Fashionable. ....Queen’s Rocket. Fastidiousness. ....Lilac, purple. Fate. ....Hemp. Fate, the color of my. ....Coral Honeysuckle. Fault. ....Henbane. Feasting. ....Pars! ey. Fecundity. ....Hollyhock. Felicity. ....Centaury. Sweet Sultan. Female ambition. ...White Hollyhock. Female fidelity. ....Speedwell. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS 233 Female loveliness, the perfec¬ tion of..Justicia. Ferocity and deceit.Arum. Festivity.Parsley. Fickleness.Abatina. Lady’s Slipper. Pink Larkspur. Fidelity.Ivy. Veronica, or Speedwell. Plum Tree. Coral Honey¬ suckle. Fidelity in love.Lemon Blossoms. Fidelity in misfortune...Wallflower. Filial love.Virgin’s Bower. Fine arts, the.Acanthus. Finesse.Sweet William. Fire.Hoarhound. Fraxinella. Fleur- de-Luce. First emotion of love.Lilac, Purple. Fitness .Sweet Flag. Flame.Fleur-de-lis. Yellow Iris. Flattery.Venus’ Looking-glass. Flee away.Pennyroyal. Fly with me.Venus’ Car. Folly.Columbine. Scarlet Geranium. Foolishness.Pomegranate. Foppery.Cockscomb. Amaranth. Force.Fennel. Foresight....?..Holly. Forgetfulness.Moonwort. Satin Flower. White Poppy. Forget me not.Forget-me-not. Forgiveness of injuries...,.Cinnamon Tree. Forsaken.Garden Anemone. Laburnum. Willow. China Rose, Dark. Fragili ty.F uchsia. Frankness.Osier. Fraternal love.Syringa. Woodbine. Mock Orange. Freedom.Water Willow. Freshness .Damask Rose. Friends, thoughts of absent.Zinnia. Friendship.Rose Acacia. Ivy. Oak-leaved Geranium. 234 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Friendship, early. ...Blue or Red Periwinkle. Friendship, unchanging. ....Arbor Vitae. Friendship in adversity. ...Snowdrop. Frivolity. ...Bladder-nut Tree. London Pride. Trembling Grass. Frugality. ....Chicory. Endive. Fruitfulness. ...Hollyhock. Gaiety. ...butterfly Orchis. Yellow Lily. Gain. ...Cabbage. Gallantry. ...A Nosegay. Sweet AVilliam. Game. ....Hyacinth. Generosity. ....Orange Tree. Genius. ...Plane Tree. Gentility. ...Geranium. Pompon Rose. Giddiness. ...Almond Tree. Girlhood. ...White Rosebud. Give me your good wishes... ...Basil. Giaduess. ...Myrrh. Gladness, youthful. ...Spring Crocus. Glory . ...Bay Tree. Mountain Laurel. Daphne. Glorious beauty. ...Glory Flower. Go away, wilt thou?. ...Everlasting Pea. Good education. ...Cherry Tree. Good fortune. ...Mugwort. Good nature. ...,M ullen. Goodness. ...Bonus Henricus.* Snowball or Guelder Rose. Good nows. ...Guelder Rose. Good wishes. ...Sweet Basil. Gossip. ...Cobasa. Grace. ...Birch. China Rose, Red. Grace and elegance. ...Yellow Jasmine. Graces, the. ...Hundred-leaved Rose. Grandeur. ...Ash Tree. Gratitude. ...Canterbury or White Bell Flower. Camellia. Grief.. ....Aloe. Harebell. Marigold. Growing old. ...Meadow Saffron. Guidance... ...Star of Bethlehem. Happiness. ...Mugwort. Sweet Sultan. Happiness, return of. ....Lily of the Yalley. THE LANGUAGE OF FLO WEBS. 235 Happy love.Bridal Rose. Hardness.Scratchweed. Hatred.Basil. Fumitory. Haughtiness.Double Larkspur. Tall Sun¬ flower. Amaryllis. Healing...Balm of Gilead. Health.Iceland Moss. Heartache, cure for.Cranberry. Pleurisy Root. Swallowwort. Heart, the incense of a faithfuh.Frankincense. Heart, left to desolation.Chrysanthemum. Heart’s mystery, the.Crimson Polyanthus. Heartlessncss.Hydrangea. Hermitage....Milkwort. Heaven, thoughts of.Snowball. Hidden merit.Coriander. Iligh-souled.Scarlet Lily. High-bred.Penstemon Azureum. Holy wishes..Plumbago Larpenta. Honesty.Honesty. Hope.Hawthorn. Snowdrop. Almond Hope, extinguished.Major Convolvulus. Hope, fading.Anemone. Hope in adversity.Spruce Pine. Hope in love.Bachelor’s Button. Hopeless love.Yellow Tulip. Hopeless, not heartless.Love-lies-bleeding. Horror.Mandrake. Serpent Cactus. Snakesfoot. Dragonwort. Hospitality .Oak Tree. Humility.Broom. Field Lilac. Small Bindweed. Hypocrisy.Manchineel Tree. I adore you.Heliotrope. i am dazzled by your charms...Ranunculus. I am in despair.White Rose. I am worthy of you.Full White Rose. I am never importunate.Rose Leaf. I am sensible of your kindness.Flax. I am too happy.Cape Jasmine. 1 am your captive.Peach Blossom. I aspire to thy smile.Daily Rose. 236 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. I attach myself to yon.Indian Jasmine. Chick Pea. I change but in death.Bay Leaf. I claim at least your esteem.I’otentilla. I dare not.Veronica Speciosa. I declare against you.Belvedere. Wild Licorice. Tansy. I desire a roturn of affection....Jonquil. I desire to please.Meuereon. I die if neglected.Laurustina. I dreamed of thee.Thorn Apple. I engage you for the next dance.Ivy Geranium. I feel all my obligations.Liut. I feel your kindness.Flax. I have a message for you.Iris. I have lost all.Mourning Bride. I have seen a lovely girl.Tuberose. I live for thee.Cedar Leaf. I love.Bed Chrysanthemum. Peruvian Heliotrope. I never trouble.Rose Leaf. I offer you my all.Shepherd’s Purse I partake your sentiments.Double China Aster. Garden Daisy. I prefer you.Rose Geranium. I shall die to-morrow.Gum Cistus. I share your sentiments.Garden Daisy. I surmount everything.Mistletoe. I watch over you.Mountain Ash. I weep for you.Purple Verbena. I will not answer hastily.Monthly Honeysuckle. I will not survive you.Black Mulberry. I will think of it.Single China Aster. Wild Daisy I wish I was rich.Kingcup. I wound to heal.Eglantine. Sweetbrier. Idleness.Meeembryanthemum. If'you love me, you will dis¬ cover it.Maiden-blush Rose. Ill-natured beauty.Citron. Illness.Garden Anemone. Ill-temper.Barberry. Crab Blossom. Imagination.Lupine. THE LANGUAGE OE FLOWERS. 237 Immortality. ...Amaranth. Globe, Impatience. ...Yellow Balsam. Impatient of absence. ...Corchorus. Impatient resolves. ...Red Balsam. Imperfection. ...Henbane. Importunity. ...Burdock. Fuller’s Teasel. Inconstancy in friendship.... ...Evening Primrose. Inconstancy in love. ...Wild Honeysuckle. Incorruptible. ...Cedar of Lebanon. Independence . ...Wild Plum Tree. Thistle. White Oak. Indifference. ...Senvy. Candytuft. Agnus Castus. Mustard Seed. Indiscretion... ...Split Reeds. Almond Tree. Indolence. ...Mittraria Coccinea. Industry. ...Bee Orchis. Red Clover. Flax. Infatuation . ...Peruvian Heliotrope. Infidelity . ...Yellow Rose. Ingeniousness. ...White Pink. Ingenuity. ...Pencil-leaved Geranium. Ingenuous simplicity. ...Mouse-eared duckweed. Ingratitude. ...Buttercup. Wild Ranunculus Thornless Rose Crowfoot. Injustice. ...Hop. Innocence. ...White Daisy. White Violet Innocence, youthful. ...White Lilac. Insincerity. ...Foxglove. Insinuation. ...Great Bindweed. Inspiration. ...Angelica herb. Instability. ....Dahlia. Intellect . ...Walnut. Intellectual excellence. ...Venice Sumach. Intemperance. ...Grape. Intrinsic worth.. ....Gentian. Ireland, emblem of.. ...Shamrock. Irony. ... Snrdony. Jealousy. ... French Marigold. Yellow Rose ■Test. ...Southernwood. •Toy. ...W’ood Sorrel, or Oxalis. Joys to come. ...Celandine. Juice. ....Fir of Gilead. Justice . ....Rudbeckia. 1 238 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Justice, do me. Justice shall be done. Keep your promises. Kindness. Knight errantry. Knowledge, useful. Lamentation. Lasting beauty. Lasting pleasures. Let mo go. Let us forget. Levity . Liberty . Life. Liglit-heartedness.. Lightness. Lofty and pure thoughts... Longevity. Love. Love, a heart ignorant of.. Love, ambassador of.. Love, ardent. Love at first sight. Love, bashful. Love, bond of.. Love, chaste. Love, confession of. Love, consumed by. Love, declaration of.. Love, decrease of.. Love, devoted. Love, estranged. Love for all seasons. Love, forsaken.. Love in absence. Love in idleness. Love is dangerous. Love ot nature. Love of variety. Love, only deserve my. .Chestnut Tree. .Coltsfoot. .Plum Tree. Petunia. .Blue Bell. Scarlet Geranium. .Helmet Flower (Monkshood). .Parsley. ...... Aspen Tree. .Gilliiiower. .....Everlasting Pea. .Butterfly Weed. .Yellow Rose. .Larkspur. \ .Live Oak. .Lucern. .Shamrock. .Larkspur. Daily Rose. .Sunflower, tall. .Fig. Arbor Vitae. .Blue Violet. Myrtle. Rose Red Bay. .White Rosebud. .Rose, Cabbage. .Balsam. .Arkansas Coreopsis. .Deep Red Rose. .Monthly Honeysuckle .Acacia. .Moss Rosebud. .Syrian Mallow. .Red Tulip. .Yellow Sweotbrier. Y r ellow Rose. .Wild Honeysuckle. .Lotus Flower. .Furze. .Creeping Willow. .Myrtle. .W ild Violet. Heart’s Ease. .Carolina Rose. .Magnolia. .China Aster. .Campion Rose. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 239 Love, platonic. ...Rose Acacia. Love, pretended. .. Catchfly, Silene. Love, pure and ardent. ...Red Double l’ink. Love returned. ...Ambrosia. Love, secret. ...Toothwort. Yellow Acacia. Motherwort. Iloney Flower. Love, slighted. ...Yellow Chrysanthemum. Love, sweet and secret. ...Honey Flower. Love, the first emotions of... ...Purple Lilac. Love, true. ....For i'et-rn e-no t. Lovely, always. ....Indian Double Pink. Lovely, thou art all that is.. ...Austrian Rose. Love's oracle. ...Dandelion. Lowliness. ...Bramble. Lustre . ...Aconite-leaved Crowfoot. Luxury . ....Chestnut. Magnificence . ...Magnolia. Magnificent beauty. ....Calla. Majesty. ...Crown Imperial. Imperial Lily Make haste. ...Dianthus. Malevolence. ...Lobelia. Manners. ...Wild Rue. Marriage. ....Saffron. Ivy. Maternal affection. ...Cinquefoil. Maternal love. ..Moss. Maternal tenderness. ...Wood Sorrel. Matrimony . ...Ivy. Linden. Matronly grace. Mature charms. ...Cattleya Pineli. May you be happy. ....Yolkamenia. Meanness. ...Cuscuta. Dodder. Meekness. ...Birch Tree. Meeting, an appointed. ...Everlasting Pea. Meeting, an expected. ....Nutmeg Geranium. Melancholy. ...Autumn Leaves. Dead Leave* Dark Geranium. Cypress and Marigold. Weeping Willow Melancholy mind. ...Sorrowful Geranium. Memory . ....Red Bay. Syringa. Memory, pleasures of. ....Blue Periwinkle. Mental beauty. ....Clematis. Kenuedia. Merit, concealed. ...Coriander. 2-10 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Merit, reward of. ....Bay Wreath. Merit, superior. .Full Moss Rose. Merit, unpatronized. ....Red Primrose. Message. .Garden Iris. Mildness. .Mallow. Mirth. ....Saffron Crocus. Wild Grape. Misanthropy. _Fuller’s Teasel. Wolfsbane Thistle. Mistrust. .Lavender. Modest beauty. ....Trillium Pictum. Modest worth. . ...Woodroof. Primrose. Modesty. .Calla. White Lilac. White Violet. Modesty and genius. ....Creeping Cereus. Modesty and purity. .White Lily. Momentary happiness. .Virginian Spiderwort. Morals. .Wild Rue. Mourning. ....Cypress. Weeping Willow. Purple Scabious. Music. .Oats. Reeds. My bane, my antidote. ....White Poppy. My best days are past. ....Meadow Saffron. My compliments. ....Iris. My gratitude exceeds your cares . ....Dahlia. My regrets follow you to the grave . .Asphodel. Naivete. ....Silver Weed. Native grace. .Cowslip. Nature, love of. .Magnolia. Neatness. .Broom. Neglected beauty. .. ..Throatwort. Never-ceasing remembrance .Everlasting. Never despair. .... Watclier-by-the-Wayside. Night. ....Minor Convolvulus. Night Cott volvulus. No. .Snapdragon. Novelty. ....Dahlia. Obstacle . .Rest Harrow. Obstacles, I surmount all... .Mistletoe. Occupation. .Foxglove. Old age. ....Tree of Life. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 241 Omen. Only deserted by love. Opposition. Oracle. Ornament. Ostentation. Pain. Painful, recollections. Painting. Painting the lily. Parental affection. Participation. Passion. Paternal error. Patience. Patriotism. Peace . Penitence .. Pensive beanty. Pensiveness. Perfect excellence. Perfected loveliness. Perfection. Perfidy. Perform your promise. Perpetual pleasure. Perplexity. Persecution. Perseverance. nolia. Persuasion. low. Pertinacity . Petulance. Philosophy. Pietv. steadfast. Pity. Plan. Platonic love. Play. Playful gaiety. Pleasant recollections. 16 242 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Gentle Balm. Periwinkle. Log Rose. Poppy, Red. Everlasting Pea. Crocus. Eglantine. Bouquet of flowers. Dahlia. Vernal Grass. Cistus or Rock Rose. Evergreen Clematis. Imperial Montague, or Crown Imperial. Cress. .White Verbena. Golden Rod. May Rose. Pleasantry . Pleasing remembrances Pleasure and pain. Pleasure, evanescent. Pleasure, lasting. Pleasure of hope. Poetry . Politeness Pomp Poor, but happy Popular favor Poverty Power Pray for me Precaution Precocity Prediction. Preference. Preference, present Presage. Presumption.. Pretension.. Prettiness Pride Pride and beauty. Pride befriend me, for once may. Pride of birth. Pride of riches, Privation. Profit. Profuseness.. Prohibition . Prolific. Promptitude. Prosperity.... Protection ... Prudence .... Prophetic Marigold. Apple Blossom. Rose or Pink Geranium. Apple Geranium. Rainy Marigold. Snapdragon. Lythrum. Willow-herb, Spiked. Tiger Flower. Crown Imperial. Polyanthus. Indian Plum. Myrobalan. Cabbage. Fig Tree. Privet. Fig Tree. Ten-week Stock. .Beech Tree. Wheat. .Bearded Crepis. .J uniper. Mountain Ash. Service Tree Glasswort. Pompon Rose. Amaryllis. Hundred-leaved Rose. Scarlet Auricula. Carnation. I THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 243 P ire and deep love. Pure and lovely.... Purity. Purity and sweetness. Purity of heart. Quarrel. Quick-sigh tedness. Rarity. Readiness. Ready armed. Reason. Recall. Recantation. Reconciliation. Refinement. Refusal. Regard. Regret. Regret beyond the tomb. Relief. Relieve my anxiety. Religions fervor. Religious superstition. Remembrance. Remembrance, never-ceasing Remembrances, sorrowful. Remorse. Rendezvous. . Repose. Reserve. Resistance. Resolution. Resolves, impatient. Restoration. Retaliation. Retirement. Return of happiness. Revenge... Reverie. .Carnation. Red Pink, lied Rosebud. .White Violet. V'hite Lilac, Star of Bethlehem. .White Lily. .White Waterlily. .Broken Straw. .Hawkweed. .Mandrake. .lied Valerian. .Gladiola. .Goat’s Rue. .Silver-leaved Geranium. .Lotus leaf. .Filbert. Hazel. Star of Beth¬ lehem. .Gardenia. .Striped Carnation. Variegated Pink. .Daffodil. .Purple Verbena. .Asphodel. • Balm of Gilead. .Christmas Rose. • Passion Flower. .Aloe. .Rosemary. Forget-me-not. .Everlasting Gnaphalium .Adonis. .Bramble. Raspberry. .Chickweed. Pimpernel. .Buckbean. • Maple. Sycamore. .Tremella Nestoc. ■ Purple Columbine. •Touch-me-not. .Persicaria. .Scotch Thistle. ..Harebell. .Lily of the Valley. •Trefoil. .Flowering Fern. Osmunda. 244 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Reward of virtue. .Ray Wreath. Wreath of Roses. Riches. Rigor . Rivalry. Roughness. Royalty. Rudeness. Rupture of a contract.... Rural happiness. Rustic beauty. Rustic oracle. Sadness. .Dead leaves. Yew.' White Rose. Safety. Satire. Scandal. Scepticism. Scotland, emblem of. Sculpture . Secrecy. two buds. Secret love. Self-esteem. Selfishness. Semblance. Sensibility.. Sensitiveness. Plant. Sensuality. Sentiment, warmth of.... Separation. Serenade, a. Severity. Shame. Sharpness. She will bo fashionable.. She is fair. Shyness. Sickness. Sighing. Silence. Silent 'ove. Silliness. THE LANGUAGE OB' FLOWERS. 245 Simplicity. Simplicity, ingenuous. Sincerit y . Skill .... Slander. Sleep, Slighted love. Smile, a. Snare.... Social intercourse. Solitude. Sorcery . Sorrow . Sorrowful remembrances. Sourness. Spell, a. Spleen. Splendid beauty. Splendor. Sport. Stability. Steadfast piety. Sternness. Stoicism. Stratagem. Strength. Stupidity . Submission. Success crown your wishes Succor . Such worth is rare. Sunbeaming eyes. Superior merit. Superstition. Surety.,. Surprise. .Sweet Brier, or Wild Rose. Blaeberry. Mouse-eared Chick- weed. Lily of the Valley. Fern. Honesty. Satin Flower. Garden Chervil. Spider Ophrys. Snake’s Lounge. Burning Nettle. White Poppy. Yellow Chrysanthemum. Sweet William. Catchfly. Dragon Plant. Balm. Heath. Lichen. Nightshade. Purple Hyacinth. Yow. Pheasant’s Eye. Barberry. Witch Ilazel. Fumitory. Amaryllis. Austurtium. Scarlet Nastur¬ tium. Hyacinth. Foxtail Grass. Crosses. Wild Geranium. Thistle. Box. Walnut. Fennel. Cedar Tree. Scarlet Geranium. Almond Tree. Grass. Harebell. ■Coronella. Nemophylla. Juniper. Acliimenes. Scarlet Lychnis. Moss Rose. St. John’s Wort. Cistus. Betony. Truffle. 246 TIUS LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Susceptibility. .Passion Flower. Wax Plant. Suspicion.. ..Champignon. .Mushroom. Sweet disposition. ..Luvatera. Sweet memories. ..Periwinkle. Swiftness. ..Larkspur. Sympathy.;.. ..Balm. Thrift. Talent. ..White 1 ink. Tardiness. ..Flax-leaved Golden Locks. Tartness.. ..Berberry. Taste. ..Scarlet Fuchsia. Tears. ..llelenium, or Elecampane. Temperance. ..Azalea. Temptation. ..Apple. Quince. Thankfulness. The variety of your conversa- ..Agrimony'. tion delights me. ..Clarkia. Thee only do 1 love. ..Arbutus. Think of me. ..Cedar. Pansy. Thought. ..Pansy. Thought of absent friends. ..Zinnia. Thoughtlessness. ..Almond Tree. Thoughts of Heaven. ..Snowball. Thriftiness. ..Thyme. ..Daily Rose. Thy smile I aspire to. Thy frown will kill me. ..Currant. Ties. ..Tendrils of climbing plants. Time. ..W hite Poplar. Fir. Time and faith. ..Pitch Pine. Timidity. ..Amaryllis. Marvel of Peru. Mezereon. Token,a. ..Ox-Eye Daisy. Laurustina. Too young to love.. ..White Rosebud. Touch me not. ..Burdock. Tranquillity. ..Mudwort. Stonecrop. Lemon Geranium. Tranquillize my anxiety. ..Christmas Rose. Transient impression. ..Withered White Rose. Transient beauty. ..Night-blooming Cereus. ..Spiderwort. Transient love. Transport of joy. Treachery. ..Cape Jasmine. ..Bilberry. Whortleberry. Aco- nite. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 247 True friendship.Forget-me-not. True love.Oak Geranium. Truth.White Chrysanthemum. Bitter Nightshade. Unanimity .Phlox. Unbelief.Judas Tree. Unceasing remembrance.Cudweed. Uncertainty.'..Daffodil. Convolvulus. Mock Orange. Unchangeable.Globe Amaranth. Unchanging friendship.Arbor Vitse. Unconscious..,.Red Daisy. Unconscious beauty.Burgundy Rose. Unexpected meeting.Lemon Geranium. Unfaithfulness.Yellow Hose. Unfortunate attachment.Mourning Bride. Unfortunate love.Scabious. "Union.Lancaster Rose. Whole straw. United hearts.Phlox. Unity.White and Red Rose together. TJnpatronized merit..Red Primrose. Unpretending excellence.Camellia. Unrequited love.Daffodil. U prightness.Imbricata. Usefulness.....Grass. Uselessness.Diosma. Frutex. Utility.Grass. Vain-glory...Hydrangea or Hortensia. Vain is beauty without merit...Cockle and Rose Campion. Variety.China Aster. Mundi Rose. Very lovely.Austrian Rose. Vice.Darnel. Ray Grass. Tares. Victory.Palm. Laurel. Virgin pride.Gentian. Virtue.Mint. Virtue is charming.American Laurel. Virtue, reward of..Crown made of Roses. Vivacity.Houseleek. Volubility.Abecedary Voluptuousness.Tuberose. Voraciousness.Lupine. Spirse Hypericum Meadowsweet. Moss Rose. 248 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Vulgar-minded. War. Warlike trophy . Warmth. Warmth of sentiment. Watchfulness. Weakness. Wealth. Wedded love. W elcome. Welcome to a stranger. Widowhood. Will you dance with me?... Wilt thou go with me?. Winning grace. Winter. Wisdom. Wish, a. or Ground Laurel. .Sweet Sultan Flower. Sweet Scabious. .Cowslip. .White Mulberry Tree. Blue Sal via. Wit. Wit, ill-timed. Witchcraft . Without pretension. Woman’s love. Words, though sweet, may Robin. .Wild Sorrel. .Nightshade. ......Cinnamon Rose. .Carnation. Carnation Pink. de- , rr ce ‘ v ®.American Laurel. Worldliness, self-seeking.Clyanthus. Worth and loveliness.Mignonette. Worth beyond beauty.Sweet Alyssum. Worth, modest.Woodroof. Worth sustained by affection...Convolvulus. Worth sustained by judicious and tender affection.Pink Convolvulus Worthy of all praise.....Fennel. You are a prophet.St. John’s Wort. You are aspiring.Mountain Pink. \ou are coid^.Hortensia. Hydrangea. tou are hard.Ebony. You ar 5 merry.Mundi Rose. I TIIE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 249 You are my divinity. American Cowslip. You are perfect. Pine Apple. Y’ou are rich in attractions. Garden Ranunculus. You are the queen of coquettes..Queen’s Rocket. Dame Violet You are too bold. Dvplidinia Crassinoda. You are young and beautiful.. Red Rosebud. You have no claims. Pasque Flower. You have many lovers. Chorozema Varium. You make no pretension. Flora’s Bell. You occupy my thoughts. Pansy. Purple Y’iolet. You please all. Currants. You will be my death. Hemlock. Your beauty is vain. Hibiscus. Your charms are resplendent.. Asiatic Ranunculus. Your charms are traced upon my heart. .Spindle Tree. Y T our devout adorer. Dwarf Sunflower. Y’our friendship is agreeable to me.. Glycine. Your image is engraved on my heart. .Spindle Tree. Your looks freeze me. Ficoides. Ice Plant. Your presence revives me. Rosemary. Your presence softens my paim.Milkvetch. Y r our purity equals your love liness. .Orange Blossom. Your qualities like your charms are unequalled. .Peach. Your qualities surpass your charms . .Mignonette. Your temper is too hasty. .Grammanthes. Clilora Flora. Youth, early. .Primrose. White Lilac. Cro cus. Damask Rose. Youthful beauty. .Cowslip. Youthful gladness. .Crocus. Youthful innocence. .White Lilac. Youthful love. .Red Catchfly. Young girl. .Rosebud. Zealousness. .Elder. Zest.-. . Lemon. THE FLORAL ORACLE. O F all the various symbolic uses to which flowers have been put, none probably have afforded more amusement than The Floral Oracle. The system of divination practised by means of these beautiful objects undergoes various modifications in different countries, but the following mode will be found to be the sim¬ plest and most correct : Arrange a certain num¬ ber of flowers together; let their names, and the significations appropriate to them, be writ¬ ten down, and then let each person select or draiu one flower by lot; and the meaning at¬ tached to that blossom will typify the future consort’s characteristics. The subjoined list will fully explain this pretty game:— Rose (Red) . Affectionate. Rose (White). Modest. Rose (Rink). Bashful. Rose (Yellow). Jealous Aster. Fickle. rink . Haughty. Daisy. Gentle. Tulip . Passionate. Cornflower. Extravagant. Stock. Hasty. Jasmine. Amiable. Ileart’s-ease. Thoughtful. Lily . Graceful. Mezereon. A Flirt. Mignonette. Talented. Pri m rose. Sim pUcity. Violet (White). Candid. (250) Hollyhock .. . Ambitious. A Reed. . Musical. Oak-leaf. Hyacinth. l’oppy. Mary gold .... . Wealthy. A Fig. Geranium, ) Scented j Geranium, 1 Scarlet j . Stupid. Mimosa. Thistle. Foxglove.... Laurel . . Domineering. Myrtle. . Sel'/-sacrificing Thyme. THE FLORAL ORACLE. 251 This catalogue might be considerably enlarged, but as it is permissible for the manipulator to change the significations when requisite, the above will be quite sufficient to guide the judg¬ ment in adding any other flowers. The next portion of the game is the revelation of the intended’s profession or occupation, and must be practised in the same method as the first, thus:— A Lily typifies A nobleman. A Rose “ An artist. A Thistle “ A soldier. An Oak-leaf t! A farmer. A Laurel-leaf typifies A poet. Apple-blossom “ A lawyer. Cypress A Doctor. Tulip A free¬ holder. A favorite plan of attempting to peep into futurity by means of floral agency is practised by abstracting the petals of flowers, and with each innocent floral theft using such alternate words as those in the following verses. It is a custom of considerable antiquity, and is still affectionately preserved in many different lands. A flower of the aster kind is generally made use for the purpose, although daisies and other blooms occasionally serve for the same opera¬ tions, and, there can be little doubt, are equally efficacious. Goethe, in the garden scene of “ Faust,” introduces the rural custom in order to illustrate the childish simplicity of Margaret. In a poem entitled “ The Decision of the Flower,” L. E. L. thus alludes to the incident:— 252 TIIE FLORAL ORACLE. “ The maiden found her mystic flower. ‘ Now, gentle flower, I pray thee toll If my lover loves me, and loves me well; So may the fall of the morning dew Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. Now I number the leaves for my lot: He loves not — he loves me—he loves me not— He loves me — yes, thou last leaf, yes— I’ll pluck thee not for that last sweet guess! He loves me.’ ‘ Yes !’ a dear voice sighed, And her lover stands by Margaret’s.side.” \ James Lowell—as true a poet in thought and word as ever breathed—has not soared so high but that he could stoop to pluck a few terrestrial blossoms, and in these sweet fancies, sent with a pressed flower, finds pleasant pensdes in this pretty practice of divination :— “ This little flower from afar, Hath come from other lands to thine ; For once its white and drooping star Could see its shadow in the Rhine. “ Perchance some fair haired German maid Hath plucked one from the self-same stalk, And numbered over, half afraid, Its petals in her evening walk. “ ‘ He loves me, loves me not?’ she cries; ‘ He loves me more than earth or heaven!’ And then glad tears have filled her eyes To find the number was uneven. “ And thou must count its petals well, Because it is a gift from me; And the last one of all shall tell Something I’ve often told to thee. THE FLORAL ORACLE. 253 “ But here at home, where we were born, Thou wilt find flowers just as true, Down-bending every Summer morn With freshness of New England dew. “ For Nature, ever kind to love, Hath granted them the same sweet tongue, Whether with German skies above, Or here our granite rocks among.” On Midsummer-eve, any girl who wishes to peep into futurity, goes backwards in a garden, and, without speaking a word, gathers a rose. She puts the tiotver away in a sheet of tvhite paper, and does not look at it again until Christ- mas-day, when it will be found as fresh as in June. If she then places it in her bosom, he that is to be her husband will come and take it out; but if, prompted by curiosity, she pries into the packet before the appointed time, the charm will be broken. “The moss-rose that, at fall of dew, Ere eve its duskier curtain drew, Was freshly gathered from its stem, She values as the ruby gem ; ind, guarded from the piercing air, With all an anxious lover’s care, She bids it, for her shepherd’s sake, Await the New Year’s frolic wake— When, faded, in its alter'd hue She reads the rustic is untrue ; But if its leaves the crimson paint, Iler sickening hopes no longer faint. The rose upon her bosom worn, She meets him at the peep of morn; And lo! her lips with kisses prest, He plucks it from her panting breast.” 254 THE FLORAL ORACLE. Gesnor, the pastoral poet and 'botanist, says that the lads and lasses of certain Swiss villages proved the sincerity of their lovers by placing a petal of the poppy-blossom in the hollow of the left hand-palm, and then striking it with the other hand. II it broke with a sharp report, it attested the fidelity of the wooer; whilst if, on the contrary, it failed to break, it proved his 01 her faithlessness :— “By a prophetic poppy-leaf I found Your changed affection, for it gave no sound, Though in my hand struck hollow as it lay; But quickly withered, like your love, away.” A writer on various matrimonial and amatory superstitious customs, observes that the belief in the efficacy of St. John’s-wort is very widely spread, and gives the following version of a poem transcribed from the German ;— “Rosy red the hills appear With the light of morning, Beauteous clouds, in scther clear, All the east adorning; White through mist the meadows shine: Wake, my love, my valentine! “ For thy locks of raven hue, Flowers of hoar-frost pearly, Crocus-cups of gold and blue, Snowdrops drooping early, With mezereon-sprigs combine: Rise, my love, my valentine! THE FLORAL ORACLE. 255 “O’er the margin of the flood Pluck the daisy peeping; Through the covert of the wood Hunt the sorrel creeping; With the little celandine Crown my love, my valentine! “ Pansies on their lowly stems Scattered o’er the fallows, Hazel-buds with crimson gems, Green and glossy sallows, Tufted moss and ivy twine, Deck my love, my valentine! “ Few and simple flow’rets these; Yet to me less glorious Garden-beds and orchard-trees! Since this wreath victorious Binds you now for ever miue, 0 my love, my valentine!” A very ancient custom in vogue on the eve of the anxiously-awaited Fourteenth of February is thus described in the almost forgotten u Con¬ noisseur “ Last Friday was Valentine’s Lay, and the night previous I got five bay-leaves, and pinned four of them to the four corners of my pillows, and the fifth to the middle ; and then, if I dreamt of my sweetheart, I was told that we should be married before the year was out.” In a fiction attributed to Hannah More, it is related that, among other superstitious practices of a certain Sally Evans, “ she would never go to bed on Midsummer-eve without sticking up in her room the well-known plant called mid- 256 THE FLORAL ORACLE. simmer mew, as the bending of the leaves to the right or to the left would never fail to tell her whether her lover was true or false.” The plant here alluded to is better known as orpine,, and the above custom is thus adverted to in the “ Cottage Girl,” a poem purporting to have been written on Midsummer-eve, 1786:— “ The young maid stole through the cottage door, And blushed as she sought, the plant of power, ‘ Thou silver glow-worm, 0 lend me thy light, I must gather the mystic St. John’s-wort to-night; The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide If the coming year shall make me a bride 1’ And the glow-worm came With its silvery flame, And sparkled and shone Thro’ the night of St. John ; And soou as the young maid her love-knot tied, “With noiseless tread To her chamber she sped, Where the spectral moon her white beams shed. < Rloom here, bloom here, thou plant of power. To deck the young bride in her bridal hour!’ Hut it drooped its head, that plant of power, And died the mute death of the voiceless flower; And a withered wreath on the ground it lay, More meet for a burial than bridal day. And when a year was passed away, All pale on her bier the young maid lay 1 And the glow-worm came With its silvery flame, And sparkled and shone Thro’ the night of St. John; And they closed the cold grave o’er the maid’s cold clay* THE END \ [•*