FLOWE 
 
ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 AT 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Isabel Zucker 
 class '26 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
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THE 
 
 LADY'S BOOK 
 
 FLOWEES AID POETEI ; 
 
 TO WHICH ARB ADDED 
 
 A BOTANICAL INTEODTTOTION, 
 
 A COMPLETE FLORAL DICTIONARY 
 
 A CHAPTER ON PLANTS IN BOOMS. 
 EDITED BY LUCY HOOPER. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 CLAXTON,REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 
 
 819 & 821 MAKEET STREET. 
 1868. 
 
\/AULT 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 In presenting the " Book of Flow ers and Poetry" 
 to our readers, we would observe that much pains have 
 been taken to render its contents as varied and inter- 
 esting as the limits of such a work will allow. It will 
 be found to contain a copious Floral Dictionary, with 
 many of the Eastern significations not generally 
 known. To these are added remarks on the cultiva- 
 tion of flowers, and a simple abstract of Botany com- 
 piled from the works of our best writers. 
 
 To the selections from our own native poets we turn 
 with pride and pleasure; not the less is our gratifica- 
 tion in tendering in this place, our acknowledgments 
 to the distinguished writers who have assisted us by 
 original articles from their pens. We would particu- 
 larly mention Mr. Charges F. Hoffman, Mrs. Emma C. 
 Embuhy, and Mr. Wm. Cullen BnyANT. Nor would we 
 forget the beautiful effusion of Mrs. Balmanno, and 
 the graceful verses of Miss Huntington, names loss 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 known, because those who own them, are content to 
 shed the odor of their talents, only round the circle of 
 theJT own immediate friends. 
 
 L. r 
 
TO 
 
 I HAVE bound thee a garland of fresh blooming roses, 
 The brightest, the fairest that nature can yield, 
 
 The sigh that I 've breathed, on its bosom reposes, 
 The tear that I 've dropped, by its leaves is con- 
 cealed. 
 
 Then take the frail tribute thou loved one and wear it, 
 At least till it withers, 't will bloom but a day. 
 
 And if, from your forehead, all faded you tear it, 
 Think once on the giver — then cast it away. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 LADY'S BOOK OF FLOWERS AND POETRY 
 
 " Who does not love a flower, 
 Its hues are taken from the light 
 Which summer's suns fling pure and bright, 
 In scatvered and prismatic hues, 
 That smile and shiae in dropping dews ; 
 Its fragrance from the sweetest air, 
 Its form from all that 's light and fair, 
 Who does not love a flower." 
 
 Bravhakv. 
 
 The above lines express too fully the natural seii- 
 timents of the heart, to need any formal remarks from 
 us on the beauties of flowers. Dear to all are these 
 favorite children of Nature, smiling out from the soli- 
 tary nook, and blooming amid high and rugged cliffs. 
 Linked with many a fond association, may be the sim- 
 plest flower, from the " rosemary,'" which is for " re- 
 membrance," to the wild flower of the fields, which 
 brings back to us a thousand bright recollections of 
 snnny and rambling bouTs, when a fair unclou''''d future 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lay before us, and even a flower could borrow mosl 
 brilliant colors from the imagination. Who does not 
 recall with pleasure 
 
 " The flowers, the many flowers 
 
 That all along the smiling valley grew. 
 While the sun lay for hours 
 
 Kissing from ofi' their drooping lids the dew." 
 
 Oh ! there is something in such remembrances that 
 even in hours of depression and sorrow, can brighten 
 the dim eye and ease the wearied mind, bringing a fund 
 of innocent and pure enjoyment. Flowers are types 
 of our brightest hopes, they are emblems of joy, they 
 have been even called " the alphabet of angels." And 
 the harmony of their colors, the variety of their forms, 
 the profusion with which they are scattered over 
 every solitary place, make us consider them as fragrant 
 gems of the earth, beautiful ministers of winged and 
 spiritual thoughts. In the language of poetry, they 
 are called by one of our American poets Professor 
 Longfellow, 
 
 " The flowers, so blue and golden, 
 
 Stars, that in Earth's firmament do snine. 
 
 "Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous, 
 God hath written in those stars above ; 
 But not less in the bright flowerets under us, 
 Stands the revelation of hie love. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 " Bright and glorious is that revelation, 
 
 Written all over this great world of ours, 
 Making evident our own oreation, 
 In these stars of Earth — these golden flowers 
 
 " And the Poet, faithful and far-seeing, 
 Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part 
 Of the self-same, universal being 
 Which is throbbing in his brain and heart. 
 
 " Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining 
 Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day ; 
 Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining' 
 Buds that open only to decay. 
 
 " Frilliant hopes, all woven in gorgeous tissues^ 
 Flaunting gayly in the golden light ; 
 Large desires, with most uncertain issues, 
 Tender wishes, blossoming at night. 
 
 " Every where about us are they glowing. 
 Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born j 
 Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing, 
 Stand like Ruth amid the golden corn. " 
 
 After so beautiful an apostrophe to Flowers, we pre 
 sent our Book with renewed confidence to the readers 
 for whom it is intended. That amid its many blossoms 
 they may discover some fair and fragrant flower, 
 which may bring pleasant images, and among its poet- 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ical sentiments, find some favored selection which may 
 address itself to their memories, is the wish of the 
 compiler. That they may find it a mystic " Book" — a 
 faithful ally in the cause of Flora, till they acquire pro- 
 ficiency in the " language of flowers," is sincerely 
 hoped. For this purpose, much care has been used in 
 the selection of the different meanings, and leaving or.i 
 labors at present, we hope the Book we offer for the i 
 perusal will be considered 
 
 "As a soft chain of spoken flowers 
 And airy gems, 
 
 by our fair and intelligent readers 
 
 L. H 
 
MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 
 
 Perhaps a few hints on the management of plants in 
 rooms, may not be unacceptable to our readers. We, 
 therefore, extract from Paxton's Magazine of Botany, 
 the following observations : — 
 
 " Hints on the general management of plants are 
 attended with considerable difficulty ; every genus re- 
 quiring some little variation, both in soil, water, and 
 ge;i'3ral treatment. If the room where the plants are 
 intended to be placed, is dark and close, but few will 
 ever thrive in it; if, on the contrary, it is light and airy, 
 with the windows in suitable aspect to receive the 
 sun, plants will do nearly as well as in a greenhouse. 
 If observed to suffer, the effects may be traced to these 
 causes, either want of proper light and air — injudi- 
 cious watering — filthiness collected on the leaves — or 
 being potted in unsuitable soil. 
 
 " 1. Want of proper light and air, is perhaps the most 
 essential point of any to be considered ; for, however 
 well all other requisites are attended to, a deficiency 
 of these will always cause the plant to grow weak and 
 sickly. Let them always be placed as near the light 
 as they can conveniently stand and receive as much aii 
 
12 MANAGE MENTOF 
 
 as can be admitted when the weather will allow. Those 
 persons who have no other place than the house to 
 keep them in, will find that they derive immense advan- 
 tage from being, during fine weather in spring or au- 
 tumn, turned out of doors in the evening, and taken 
 in again in the morning, the night-dews contributing 
 greatly to their health and vigor. 
 
 " 2. Injudicious watering does more injury to plants 
 in rooms than we imagine. To prevent the soil ever 
 having an appearance of dryness is an object of impor- 
 tance in the estimation of very many ; they, therefore 
 water to such an excess that the mould becomes sodden, 
 and the roots perish. Ohers, to avoid this evil, give 
 scarcely water enough to sustain life. This, however, 
 is by no means so common a practice ; for, in general, 
 if anything appears to be the matter with the plant 
 Wge doses of water are immediately resorted to, for 
 an infallible restorative. This overplus of water wil. 
 show its bad effects by the very dark color, and flabby 
 disposition of the leaves ; but if the plant receives too 
 little water, its leaves will turn yellow and eventually 
 die. 
 
 "The best plan is, to always allow the soil in the pot 
 to have the appearance of dryness (but never sufficient 
 to make the plant flag), before a supply of water is 
 given, which should then be pretty copious ; but al- 
 ways empty it out of the pan or feeder, in which the 
 pot stands, as soon as the soil is properly drained. 
 The water used for the purpose ought always to be 
 
PLANTS IN ROOMS. 1 ^i 
 
 made about the same temperature as the room in whicl: 
 the plants grow; never use it fresh from the pump, 
 either let it stand in a room all night, oi take off the 
 chill by a little warm water, otherwise the growth of 
 the plants will be much checked. 
 
 " 3. Extraneous matter collected on the leaves may 
 either arise from insects or dust ; the former may be 
 speedily remedied, by placing the plants under a hand 
 glass, or anything that is convenient, and burning some 
 tobacco until they become well enveloped in the smoke ; 
 and the latter may be removed by occasionally wash- 
 ing them on the head with pure water, either by means 
 of a syringe, the nose of a watering pan, or with a 
 sponge, when the dust still adheres. 
 
 Bulbs of most sorts flourish in rooms with less care 
 than most other plants. Hyacinths should be planted 
 in autumn. Fill the pots with light rich soil, and plant 
 the bulbs so shallow that nearly half the bulb stands 
 above the soil, place the pots in the open air, and 
 cover them six or eight inches with rotten bark. Dur- 
 ing spring, take them out as they are wanted to bring 
 into flower, and set them in the window of a warm 
 room, where they will be exposed to the sun. When 
 the leaves begin to decay after flowering, give them no 
 wa(pr, when the leaves are dead, take them out of the 
 soil, and lay them in an airy situation for planting. 
 
 " If grown in water-glasses, they require to be placed 
 in a light airy situation, and the water must be changed 
 every three or four days. 
 
GARDENS. WREATHS. &cc. 
 
 LEGENDS OF FLOWEHS. 
 
 LTJCY HOOPER. 
 
 The following lines refer to some of the old fanciful ideas attached tn 
 the opening of flowers. In the Romish church such events were can"- 
 fully noted down, and every flower blossoming on a Saint's day was 
 considered to bloom in honor of that saint. 
 
 Oh gorgeous tales, in the days of old, 
 
 Were linked with the opening flowers, 
 As if in their fairy urns of gold, 
 
 Beat human hearts like ours. 
 The nuns in their cloister, sad and pale, 
 
 As they watched soft huds expand, 
 On their glowing petals traced a tale 
 
 Or legend of holy Land. 
 Brightly to them did thy snowy leaves. 
 
 For the sainted Mary shine. 
 As they twined for her forehead vestal wreaths 
 
 Of thy white buds, Cardamine ! 
 
 The Crocus shone when the fields were bare 
 With a gay rejoicing smile ; 
 
IG GARDENS, WREATHS, «c. 
 
 But the hearts that answered Love's tender prayer 
 
 Grew brightened with joy the while. 
 Of the coming spring, and the summer's light. 
 
 To others that flower might say. 
 But the lover welcomed the herald bright. 
 
 Of the glad St. Valentine's day. 
 The Crocus was hailed as a happy flower, 
 
 And the holy Saint that day 
 Poured out on the Earth their golden shower, 
 
 To light his votaries' way. 
 
 On the day of St. George, the brave St. George 
 
 To merry England dear. 
 By field and by fell, and by mountain gorge, 
 
 Shone Hyacinths blue and clear. 
 Lovely and prized was their purple light, 
 
 And 'twas said in ancient story, 
 That their fairy bells rung out at night, 
 
 A peal to old England's glory. 
 A.nd sages read in the azure hue, 
 
 Of the flowers so widely known. 
 That by white sail spread over Ocean's blue, 
 
 Should the Empire's right be shown. 
 
 And thou, of faithful memory, 
 St. John, thou " shining light," 
 
 Beams not a burning torch for thee. 
 The scarlet Lychnis bright • 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, tc. 
 
 While holy Mary at thy shrine, 
 
 Another pure flower blooms, 
 Welcome to thee with news divine,* 
 
 The lily's faint perfume. 
 Proudly its stately head it rears, 
 
 Arrayed in virgin white. 
 So Truth, amid a world of tears, 
 
 Doth shine with vestal light. 
 
 And thou, whose opening buds wor" Hti» 
 
 A Saviour's cross beside. 
 We hail thee, Passion Flower alone 
 
 Sacred to Christ who died. 
 No image of a mortal love, 
 
 May thy bright blossoms be 
 Linked with a passion far above, 
 
 A Saviour's agony. 
 All other flowers are pale and dim, 
 
 All other gifts are loss. 
 We twine thy matchless buds for hitn 
 
 Who died on holy Cross. 
 
 • The Lily blc urns about Annin«'BtioD as» 
 
 2* 
 
18 UARDENS, WREATHS, &c 
 
 THE PAINTED CUP.» 
 WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 
 
 The fresh savannahs of the Sangamore 
 
 Here rise in gentle swells, and the long grass 
 
 Is mixed with rustling hazels. Scarlet tufts 
 
 Are glowing in the green, like flakes of fire ; 
 
 The wanderers of the prairie know them well, 
 
 And call that hrilliant flower the painted cup. 
 
 Now if t.iou art a poet, tell me not 
 
 That these hright chalices were tinted thus 
 
 To hold the dew for fairies, when they meet 
 
 On moonlight evenings in the hazel bowers. 
 
 And dance till they are thirsty. Call not up, 
 
 Amid thy fresh and virgin solitude. 
 
 The faded fancies of an elder world, 
 
 But leave these scarlet cups to spotted moths 
 
 Of June, and glistening flies, and humming-birds, 
 
 To drink from, when on all these boundlebs lawns 
 
 The morning sun looks hot. Or let the wind 
 
 • The Painted Cup or Euchroma Coccinea of Nuttall, is known more 
 generally as tlie Bartsia Coccinea ol' LinnEEUs, and m botanical lan- 
 guage, is described thus : Leaves alternate, linear, cut pinnatifid, with 
 linear segments, bractes dilated, mostly three cleft larger than the 
 flowers, calyx teeth obtuse- Should our reader prefer a poetical descrij> 
 tion, in addition to the beautiful lines we give, we wojd remind them 
 of J. N. Barker's tanciful thought, 
 
 " Harlequin Bartsia, in his painted vest 
 Of green and crimson " L H 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
 
 O ertiirn in sport their ruddy brims, and pour 
 A. sudden shower upon the strawberry plant, 
 To swell the reddening fruit that even now 
 Breathes a slight fragrance from the sunny slope 
 But thou art of a gayer fancy. Well-^ 
 Let then the gentle Manitou of flowers, 
 Lingering amid the bloomy waste he loves, 
 Though all his swarthy worshippers ?i.re gone — 
 Slender and small, his rounded cheek all brown 
 And ruddy with the sunshine ; let him come 
 On summer mornings when the blossoms wake. 
 And part with little hands the spiky grass ; 
 And touching, with his cherry lips, the edge 
 Of these bright beakers, drain the gathered dew 
 
 FLOWERS. 
 
 MRS. SIGOUENEY. 
 
 I 'll tell thee a story, sweet, 
 
 Here, under this shady tree. 
 If thou 'It keep it safe in thy faithful breast, 
 
 I '11 whisper the whole to thee. 
 
 I had a lover, once, 
 
 In my early, sunny hours, 
 A fair and fanciful youth was he, 
 
 And he told his love in flowers. 
 
20 GARDENS, WREATHS, »». 
 
 I remember its waking sigh, 
 
 We roam'd in a verdant spot, 
 And he cull'd for me a cluster bright 
 
 Of the purple Forget-me-not. 
 
 But I was a giddy girl, 
 
 So I toss'd it soon away, 
 And gathered the dandelion buds. 
 
 And the wild grape's gadding spray. 
 
 He mark'd their blended hues, 
 With a sad and reproachful eye, 
 
 For one was the symbol of thoughtless mirth, 
 And one of coquetry 
 
 Yet he would not be baffled thus. 
 So he brought for my crystal vase, 
 
 The rose-geranium's tender bloom, 
 And the blushing hawthorn's grace. 
 
 And a brilliant and fresh bouquet, 
 Of the moss-rose buds he bore — 
 
 Whose eloquent brows with dew-drops pearl'd, 
 Were rich in the heart's deep lore. 
 
 1 could not refuse the gift, 
 
 Though I knew the spell it wove. 
 
 But I gave him back a snow-white bud, 
 " Too young, too young to love." 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, He. 81 
 
 Then he proffer'd a myrtle wreath, 
 
 With damask roses fair, 
 And took the liberty — only think — 
 
 To arrange it in my hair 
 
 And he prest in my yielding hand. 
 
 The everlasting pea, 
 Whose questioning lips of perfume breathed, 
 
 " Wilt thou go, wilt thou go with me 1" 
 
 Yet we were but children, still. 
 
 And our love, though it seemed so sweet, 
 Was well express'd by the types it chose, 
 
 For it pass'd away as fleet. 
 
 Though he brought the laurus-leaf, 
 
 That changes but to die, 
 And the amaranth, and the evergreen, 
 
 Yet what did they signify 1 
 
 Oft o'er his vaunted love. 
 
 Suspicious moods had power, 
 So I put a Frenr-h marigold in his hat, 
 
 That gaudy jealous flower. 
 
 But the rootless passion shrank 
 
 Like Jonah's gourd away, 
 Till the shivering ice-plant best might mark 
 
 The grades of its chill decay. 
 
2a GARDENS. WREATHS, &c. 
 
 And he sailed o'er the faithless sea, 
 To a brighter clime than ours; — 
 
 So it faded, that fond and fickle love. 
 Like its alphabet of flowers. 
 
 SONG OF THE LAST VIOLET. 
 
 iSMMA. C. EMBTJEV. 
 
 tVritten immediately after receiving from a very dear fneud, on Chnst 
 mas day, a Violet, wliicli had been found growing in the open air. 
 
 I 'm weary of biding the pitiless blast, 
 I'm weary of lingering — the lone one — the last ; 
 Too long I have pined for the soft summer shower, 
 And the sunbeam, to viraken each slumbering flower ; 
 Too long I have drooped o'er the desolate bed. 
 Where my kindred so early lay withered and dead. 
 
 In vam my rich treasures of fragrance I fling. 
 They mingle not now with the breezes of spring ; 
 Too rude are the rough blasts of winter to bear 
 Such perfume as gladdens the soft summer air; 
 And the Violet, the pride of the spring-time, soon dies, 
 Unknown and unseen, 'neath December's dark skies. 
 
 Oh, better, far hetter, 't would be, could I fade 
 Mid the clustering locks of some pitying maid; 
 But I listen in vain for the echoing tread 
 Of the young and the gay round my vevdureless bed; 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 'j3 
 
 And long have I wanted the hand that might save, 
 My tempest-bowed form from a snow-covered grave. 
 
 Thou art come ! — thou art come ! — ay, I know 
 
 thee now, 
 By the silent step, and the thoughtful brow. 
 By the calm, sweet smile on the lip, which tells 
 Of a soul that in peace and purity dwells. 
 By the tenderness glassed in the depths of thine eye 
 \ know thou wilt not pass the last Violet by. 
 
 LINES TO A BELLE. 
 
 rOR THE ORCHIS. 
 O. W. HOLMES. 
 
 STes, lady ! I can ne'er forget 
 That once in other years we met ; 
 Thy memory may perchance recall 
 A festal eve — a rose-wreathed liall, 
 Its taper's blaze — ■ its mirror's glance — 
 Its melting song — its ringing dance — 
 Why in thy dream of virgin joy, 
 Shouldst thou recall a pallid boy 1 
 
 Thine eye had other forms to seek — 
 Why rest upon his bashful cheek 1 
 With other tones thy heart was stirred — 
 Why waste on him a gentle word 1 
 
24 GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
 
 We parted, lady! all night long 
 
 Thine ear to thrill with dance and song J 
 
 And I to weep, that I was born 
 
 A thing thou scarce would deign to scorn 
 
 And, lady, now that years have past, 
 
 My barque has reached the shore at last; 
 
 The gales that filled her ocean wing 
 
 Have chilled and shrunk thy hasty spring '. 
 
 And eye to eye, and brow to brow, 
 
 I stand before thy presence now; 
 
 Thy lip is smoothed, thy voice is sweet, 
 
 Thy warm hand proffered when we meet 
 
 Nay, lady ! 't is not now for me 
 To droop the lid, or bend the knee ; 
 I seek thee, oh ! thou dost not shun, 
 I speak — thou listenest like a nun; 
 I ask thy smile — thy lip uncurls, 
 Too liberal of its flashing pearls : 
 Thy tears — thy lashes sink again, 
 My Hebe turns to Magdalen ! 
 
 Oh, changing youth ! that evening hour 
 Looked down on ours, the bud, the flower 
 One faded in its virgin soil. 
 And one was nursed in tears and toil ; 
 Thy leaves were opening one by one, 
 While mine were opening to the sun ; 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 25 
 
 Which now can meet the cold, the storm, 
 With freshest leaf and hardiest form's 
 
 Ay, lady, that once haughty glance 
 Still wanders vainly through the dance ; 
 And asks in vain from others' pride, 
 The charity thine own denied ; 
 And as thy ripened life could learn 
 To smile and praise, that used to spurn. 
 So thy last offering on the shrine 
 Shall be this flattering lay of mine. 
 
 A CLUMP OF DAISIES 
 
 RICIIAED DANA, 
 
 Ye daisies gay, 
 This fresh spring day, 
 Close gathered here together, 
 To play in the light, 
 To sleep all night, 
 To abide through the sullen weather. 
 
 Ye creatures bland, 
 
 A simple band. 
 
 Ye free ones linked in pleasure, 
 
 And linked when your forms 
 
 Stoop low in the storms, 
 
 And the rain comes down without measure. 
 3 
 
ati G A RI ENS, WREATHS, &<' 
 
 When wild clouds fly 
 Athwart the sky, 
 And ghostly shadows glancing 
 Are darkening the gleam 
 Of the hurrying stream, 
 And your close, bright heads gayly dancinp 
 
 Though dull awhile, 
 Again ye smile. 
 For, see, the warm sun breaking, 
 The streams going glad, 
 There 's nothing sad, 
 And the small bird his song is waking^. 
 
 The dew-drop sip 
 With dainty lip, 
 The sun is low descended, 
 And Moon, softly fall 
 On troop true and small. 
 Sky and earth in one kindly blended. 
 
 And Morning, spread 
 Their jewelled bed 
 With lights in the east sky sprin"inp-. 
 And Brook, breathe around 
 Thy low murmured sound, 
 May they move, ye birds, to your sino-mgi 
 
 For in thy play, 
 I hear them ?^y, 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c 
 
 Here, man, thy wisdom borrow, 
 In heart be a child, 
 In word, true and mild, 
 Hold by faith, come joy, or come sorrow. 
 
 INVOCATION TO A WREATH OF TRANSATLANTIC 
 FLOWERS. 
 
 MHS. BALMANNO. 
 
 Ye flowers that o'er the dark- dread sea. 
 
 Like faded mourners come, 
 
 By your past beauty, tell to me 
 
 A tale of mine own home. 
 
 What of my Father, hardy leaf 
 
 Of Albion's bulwark tree 1 — 
 
 He lives — unharmed by age or grief. 
 
 His emblem I to thee ; 
 
 His step is firm, his eye is bright, 
 
 His accents clear and strong 
 
 As when, thy childhood to delight, 
 
 He raised the joyous song. 
 What of my Mother, lovely rose. 
 Speak — for my tears are nigh 1 — 
 
 Look on the stream that placid flows, 
 
 And the unclouded sky : 
 
 For these in heaven's own language show 
 
 Her spirit unto thine : 
 
28 GARPENS, WREATHS, &c. 
 
 The streaw— her life's pure course below 
 
 The sky — her trust divine. 
 WKit of mj Sister, tell, oh tell. 
 Thou gentlest forest-child, 
 Thou fairy-nun, meek violet-bell. 
 So modest, sweet, and mild 1 — 
 
 Think of my opening blossoms, when 
 
 They first adorn the lea — 
 
 The ring-dove in her leafy glen, 
 
 Or hive-crowned honey-bee. 
 AVhat of my Brothers — first of him, 
 Monastic ivy say, 
 
 Who loves like thee the cloister dim, 
 And mould'ring turret gray 1 — 
 
 Lo where with intellectual eye, 
 
 In contemplation deep, 
 
 He gazes on the starry sky. 
 
 Through hours when others sleep. 
 
 A graceful form sits by his side, 
 
 Among whose ebon curls, 
 
 'T^h' unbidden tears too frequent glide 
 
 Frorr her dark eye like pearls. 
 
 Too many tears that grief hath cost. 
 
 Yet, mother of the dead. 
 
 Thou mourn' st the parted, not the lost 
 
 Then raise thy drooping head. 
 Woodbine ! sweet woodbine ! softly breathe, 
 Last, though not loved the less — 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &e. 2& 
 
 Of him who, wild as thy own wreath, 
 Has all its artlessness 1 
 
 The stag, the steed, the mountain wind, 
 
 The birds that sportive skim. 
 
 All joyful things, may to thy mind, 
 
 Present the thought of him ! 
 I ask no more, delightful flowers ! 
 For ye to me have given 
 Sweet thoughts, and many happy hours 
 Of thankfulness to Heaven. 
 
 THE REMONSTRANCE OF THE TRANSPLANTED 
 FLOWERS. 
 
 EMMA. C. EMBURY. 
 
 Nay, hold, sweet lady, thy cruel hand. 
 Oh, sever not thus our kindred band. 
 And look not upon us with pitiless eye. 
 As on flow'rets born but to blossom and die. 
 
 Together we drank the morning dew. 
 And basked in the glances the sunbeams threw, 
 And together our sweets we were wont to fling 
 When zephyr swept by on his radiant wing. 
 
 When the purple shadows of evening fo.l, 
 
 'T was sweet to murmur our low farewell 
 
 3* 
 
r.O GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
 
 And together, with fragrant sigh to close 
 Our perfumed blossoms in calm repose. 
 
 But now, with none to respond our sigh, 
 In a foreign home we must droop and die ; 
 The bonds of kindred we once have known, 
 And how can we hve in the world alone 1 
 
 >h, lady, list to the voice of mirth. 
 By childhood wakened around thy hearth, 
 And think how lonely thy heart would pine. 
 Should fortune the ties of affection untwine. 
 
 E'en now, in the midst of that circle blest. 
 There are mournful thoughts in thine aching breast, 
 And how wouldst thou weep, if, bereft of all, 
 Thou shouldst sit alone in thy empty hall ! 
 
 THE CONSUMPTIVE. 
 
 MRS. EJIMA C. EMBITKY. 
 
 The mtense desire for fruits and flowers which is generally express- 
 ed by the victims of consumption, Inn'^ after every other taste has 
 departed, was exemplified in the case of a friend who died while 
 holding in his hand a tulip. 
 
 Bring flowers — fresh flowers — the fairest spring can 
 
 yield, 
 Tho poetry of earth, o'er every field, 
 
GARDENS, WR1£ATH6, &c. 31 
 
 Scattered in rich display ; 
 Bring flowers — fresh flowers — around my dying bed, 
 The sweetness of Ine sunny south to shed, 
 
 Ere I am called away. 
 
 Bring flowers — fresh flowers — from every sheltered 
 
 glade, 
 I know their brilliant beauties soon will fade 
 
 Beneath my feverish breath ; 
 But their bright hues seem to my wandering thought, 
 With promises of bliss and beauty fraught, 
 
 Winning niy heart from death. 
 
 Bring flowers — fresh flowers — ere they again shall 
 
 bloom, 
 I shall be lying in the silent tomb, 
 
 Mouldering" in cold decay ; 
 Bring flowers — fresh flowers — that I may cheer my 
 
 heart 
 With pleasant images, ere I depart 
 To tread the grave's dark way. 
 
 Bring fruits — rich fruits — that blush on every hough 
 Bending above the traveller's weary brow. 
 
 And wooing him to taste ; 
 Bring fruits — methinks I never knew how sweet 
 The joys that every day our senses greet, 
 
 Till now in life's swift waste 
 
i'^ GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 
 
 Bring fruits — rich fruits — earth's fairest gifts are rain 
 To minister relief to the dull pain 
 
 That steals upon my heart ; 
 Yet bring me fruits and flowers — they still have 
 
 power 
 To charm if not prolong life's little hour — 
 
 Bring flowers ere I depart. 
 
 TO AJSf AUTUMN ROSE. 
 
 CHARLES F. HOFFMAN. 
 
 Tell her I love her — love her for those eyes 
 
 Now soft with feeling, radiant now with mirth 
 Which, like a lake reflecting autumn skies, 
 
 Reveal two heavens here to us on Earth — 
 The one in which their soulful beauty lies, 
 
 And that wherein such soulfulness has birth. 
 Go to my lady ere the season flies. 
 
 And the rude winter comes thy bloom to blast - 
 Go! and with all of Eloquence thou hast, 
 The burning story of my love discover, 
 And if the theme should fail, alas ! to move her. 
 Tell her when youth's gay summer-flowers are past 
 Like thee, my love, will blossom till the last I 
 
G 4RDENS, WREATHS, &c. 9 
 
 INVITATION TO FLOWERS. 
 
 BARTON. 
 
 uoMB forth, ye lovely heralds of the Spring ! 
 
 Leave, at your Maker's call, your earthly bed ; 
 At his behest your grateful tribute bring 
 
 To light and life, from darkness and the dead ! 
 Thou, timid Snow-drop, lift thy lowly head ; 
 
 Crocus and Primrose, show your varied dye; 
 Violets, your ceaseless odours round you shed, 
 
 Yourselves the while retiring from the eye, 
 Vet loading with your sweets each breeze that passes by 
 
 And you, — in gay variety, that grace. 
 
 In later months, with beauty the parterre, 
 'Making a sunshine in the shady place," 
 
 As Una and her milk-white Lamb were there; 
 Arise ! Arise ! and in your turns declare 
 
 The power of Him who has not only made 
 The depth of Ocean, and the heights of Air, 
 And Earth's magnificence, — but has display'd 
 In you that power and skill, with beauty's charms array'd 
 
 Uplift, proud Sun-flower, to thy favourite Orb 
 That disk whereon his brightness loves to dwell ; 
 
 And, lis thou seem'st his radiance to absorb. 
 Proclaim thyself The Garden's Sentinel ; — 
 
 And thou, too, gentle, modest Heather-bell, 
 
 Gladden thy Jonely birth-place: — Jasmines, spread 
 
 Your star-like blossoms, fragrant to the smell ; — 
 
34 GARDENS, WREATHS &c. 
 
 Yon Evening Primroses, when day has fled, 
 Open your pallid flowers, by dews and raoonllghl fed. 
 
 And where my favourite Abbey* rears on high 
 
 Its crumbUng ruins, on their loftiest crest 
 
 Ye Wall-Jlowers, shed your tints of golden dye, 
 
 On which the morning sunbeams love to rest, — 
 On which, when glory fills the glowing west. 
 
 The parting splendours of the day's dechne, 
 Wiih fascination to the heart address'd, 
 
 So tenderly and beautifully shine. 
 As if reluctant still to leave that hoary shrine. 
 
 Convolvvlus, — expand thy cup-like flower. 
 
 Graceful in form, and beautiful in hue; — 
 Clematis, wreathe afresh thy Garden bower. 
 
 Ye loftier Lilies, bathed in morning's dew. 
 Of purity and innocence renew 
 
 Each lovely thought; — and ye, whose lowlier pnda 
 In sweet seclusion seems to shrink from view, — 
 
 You of The Valley named, no longer hide 
 Vour blossoms meet to twine the brow of purest Bride- 
 
 And Thou, so rich in gentle names, appealing 
 To hearts that own our Nature's common lot ; 
 
 Thou styled by sportive Fancy's bettei "eeling 
 
 ■' A Thought, ' — " The Heart's Ease," or " Forget me 
 not," 
 
 • Leiston Abbey, in Suffolk. 
 
GARDENS WREATHS, &c. ij 
 
 W\m leck'st alike the Peasant's garden-plot, 
 All \ Castle's proud parterre ; — with humble joy 
 
 Prochim afresh, by castle and by cot, 
 
 Hopes which ought not, like things c f time, to clov, 
 
 And feelings Time itself shall deepen — not destroy ! 
 
 Fruitless, and endless were the task, I ween. 
 
 With ev'ry Flower to grace my votive Lay; 
 And unto thee, their long-acknowledged Queen, 
 
 Fairest, and loveliest! and thy gentle sway. 
 Beautiful Rose, my homage I must pay, — 
 
 For how can Minstrel leave thy charms unsung, 
 Vhose meek supremacy has been alway 
 
 Confess'd in many a clime, and many a tongue, 
 \nd in whose praise the harp of many a Bard has rung ' 
 
 Mine is unworthy such a lovely theme; — 
 
 Yet, could I borrow of that tuneful Bird * 
 Who sings thy praises by the moon's pale beam, 
 
 As Fancy's graceful legends have averr'd, 
 Those thrilling harmonies at midnight heard, 
 
 Witn sounds of flowing waters, — not in vain 
 Should the loose strings of my rude harp be stirr'd 
 
 By inspiration's breath, but one brief strain 
 Should re-assert thy rites, and celebrate thy reign. 
 
 Vain were the hope to rival Bards — whose lyres, 
 On such a theme, have left me nought to sing ; - 
 
 And one more Plant my humbler Muse inspires, 
 Round which my parting thoughts would fondly cling; 
 
 * The Nightingale. 
 
36 GARDENS, WREATHS, &c 
 
 Which, consecrate to Salem's peaceful King, 
 Though fair as any gracing Beauty's bower, 
 
 Ss link'd to Sorrow like a holy thing, 
 
 And takes its Name from SufTring's fiercest hour,— - 
 
 Be this thy noblest fame ! imperial Passion-floweb ! 
 
 Whatever impulse first conferr'd that name, 
 
 (Or Fancy's dream, or Superstition's art,) 
 I freely own its spirit-touching claim. 
 
 With thoughts and feelings it may well impart: — 
 Not that I would forego the surer chart 
 
 Of Revelation — for a mere conceit ; 
 Yet with indulgence may ike Christian's heart 
 
 Each frail memorial of His Master greet. 
 And chiefly what recalls his Love's most gl'^rious feat. 
 
 Be this the closing tribute of my Strain ! 
 
 Be this. Fair Flowers .' of charms — your last, and best 
 That when The Son of God for Man was sla'n, 
 
 Circled by You, He sank awhile to rest, — 
 Not The Grave's captive, but A Garden's guest. 
 
 So pure and lovely was his transient tomb! 
 And He, whose brow the Wreath of Thorns had pr«s'. 
 
 Not only bore for us Death's cruel doom. 
 But won the thornless Crown of annaranthine bla"«^ 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &c. 87 
 
 BEAUTY AND FRAGRANCE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 But, who can paint 
 
 Like nature 1 — Can imagination boast, 
 
 Amid its gay creation, hues hke hers? 
 
 Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, 
 
 And lose them in each other, as appears 
 
 In ev'ry bud that blows? 
 
 Along these blushing borders, bright with dew, 
 
 And in j'on mingled wilderness of flowers, 
 
 Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace : 
 
 Throws out the snow-drop and the crocus first; 
 
 The daisy, primrose, violet, darkly blue, 
 
 And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes ; 
 
 The yellow wall-flower, stain'd with iron brown , 
 
 And lavish stock, that scents the garden round ; 
 
 From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed. 
 
 Anemones, auriculas, enrich'd 
 
 With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves ; 
 
 And full ranunculus of glowing red. 
 
 Then comes the tulip race, where beauty plays 
 
 Her idle freaks, from family diffused 
 
 To family, as flies the father-dust. 
 
 The varied colours run, and while they break 
 
 On the charm'd eye, the exulting florist marks. 
 
 With secret pride, the wonders of his hand. 
 
 No gradual bloom is wanting, from the bud 
 
 First-born of spring, to summer's musky tribes ; 
 4 
 
3S GARDENS, WfiEATIlS, &c. 
 
 Nor hyacinths, of purest virgin white, 
 Low-bent, and blushing inward ; nor jonquils 
 Of potent fragrance ; nor Narcissus fair, 
 A.S o'er the fabled fountain hanging still ; 
 Nor broad carnations, nor gay spotted pinks 
 Nor, shower'd from ev'ry bush, tlie damask rose ; 
 Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells, 
 With hues on hues expression cannot paint, 
 The breath of nature and her endless bloom. 
 
 GARDEN LECTURE. 
 
 EVANS. 
 
 Amid my garden's broider'd paths I trod. 
 
 And there my mind soon caught her favourite clue , 
 ' seem'd to stand amid the church of God, 
 
 And flowers were preachers, and (still stranger) drew 
 From their own life and course 
 The love they would enforce, 
 And sound their doctrine was, and every precept true. 
 
 And first the Sunflower spake. Behold, he said, 
 
 How I unweariedly from dawn to night 
 Turn to the wheeling sun my golden head. 
 
 And drink into my disk fresh draughts of light, 
 O mortal ! look ?. id learn ; 
 So, with obedient turn. 
 From womb to grave pursue the Sun of life and might 
 
GAIiDEMS. WREATHS, *c. b'.t 
 
 And next I heard the lowly Camomile, 
 
 Who, as I trod on him with reckless feet, 
 And wrang his perfume out, cried, List awhile — 
 E'en thus with charity the proud one greet. 
 And, as insulters press, 
 E'en turn thou thus and bless. 
 And yield from each heart's bruise a redolence more s-weet 
 
 Then from his rocky pulpit I heard cry 
 
 The Stonecrop. See how loose to earth I grow, 
 And draw my juicy nurture from the sky. 
 
 So drive not thou, fond man, thy root too low ; 
 But, loosely clinging here. 
 From God's supernal sphere 
 Draw life's unearthly food, catch heaven's undying glow 
 
 Then preach'd the humble Strawberry. Behold 
 
 The lowliest and least adorn'd of flowers 
 Lies at thy feet ; yet lift my leafy fold. 
 
 And fruit is there unfound in gaudier bowers. 
 So plain be thou, and meek. 
 And when vain man shall seek, 
 CJnveil the blooming fruit of solitary hours. 
 
 Then cried the Lily : Hear my mission next. 
 On me thy Lord bade ponder and be wise. 
 Oh ! wan with toil, with care and doubt perplext, 
 Survey my joyous bloom, my radiant dyes. 
 My hues no vigils dim. 
 All care I cast on Him 
 Who more Ihan faith can ask each hour to faith supplies 
 
40 GARDENS, WREATHS, &c 
 
 The Thistle warn'd me last ; for, as I tore 
 
 The intruder up, it cried. Rash man, take heed ! 
 In me thou hast thy type. Yea, pause and pore — 
 Even as thou, doth God his vineyard weed ; 
 Deem not each worthier plant 
 For thee shall waste and want. 
 Nor fright with hostile spines thy Master's chosen seea 
 
 Then cried the garden's host with one consent : 
 
 Come, man, and see how, day by day, we shoot 
 For every hour of rain, and sunshine lent. 
 Deepen our glowing hues, and drive our root ; 
 And, as our heads we lift, 
 Record each added gift. 
 And bear to God's high will, and man's support, our frui' 
 
 O Leader thou of earth's exulting quire, 
 
 Thou with a first-born's royal rights endued, 
 Wilt thou alone be dumb? alone desire 
 Renew'd the gifts so oft in vain renew'd? 
 Then sicken, fret, and pine. 
 As on thy head they shine. 
 And wither 'mid the bliss of boundless plenitude ? 
 
 Oh, come ! and, as thy due, our concert lead. 
 
 Glory to him, the Lord of life and light. 
 Who nursed our tender leaf, our colours spread. 
 And gave thy body mind, the first-born's right, 
 By which thy flight may cieave 
 The starry pole, and leave 
 Thy younger mates below in death's unbroken nialii 
 
GARDENS, WREATHS, &o 41 
 
 GARDEN THOUGHTS. 
 
 MONTGOMERV. 
 
 W ritten on occasion of a Ladies' Bazaar, in aid of the Church Mis. 
 Bionary Society, being held in the garden-grounds of a benevolent 
 family 'esident on the banks of the Yorkshire Ouse. 
 
 In a garden — Man was placed, 
 Meet abode for innocence ; 
 With his Maker's image graced : 
 Sin crept in, and drove him thence. 
 Through the world, a wretch undone, 
 Seeking rest and finding none. 
 
 In a garden, — On that night 
 When our Saviour was betray'd, 
 With what world-redeeming might, 
 In his agony he pray'd 1 
 Till he drank the vengeance up. 
 And with mercy fiU'd the cup. 
 
 In a garden, — on the cross, 
 When the spear his heart had riven, 
 And for earth's primeval loss 
 Heaven's own ransom had been givft.i, 
 Jesus rested from his woes, 
 Jesus from the dead arose. 
 
 Here, not Eden's bowers are found. 
 Nor the lone Gethsemane, 
 Nor the calm sepulchral ground 
 At the foot of Calvary : 
 
4-2 GARDENS, WREATHS. &« 
 
 But th's scene may well recall 
 Sweet remembrances of all. 
 
 Emblem of the church below ! 
 Where the Spirit and the Word 
 Fall like dew, like breezes blow ; 
 And the Lord God's voice is heatu, 
 Walking in the cool of day, 
 When the world is far away : 
 
 Emblem of the church above, 
 Where, amidst their native cHme, 
 In the garden of his love, 
 Rescued from the storms of time, 
 Saints, as trees of life, shall stand, 
 Planted by the Lord's right hand : 
 
 Round the fair enclosure here, 
 Flames no cherub's threatening sworG ; 
 Ye who enter ! feel no fear : 
 Roofd by heaven, with verdure floor'dj 
 Breathing balm from blossoms gay, 
 This be Paradise to-day ! 
 
 Yet one moment meditate 
 On that dreary banishment, 
 When from Eden's closing gate. 
 Hand in hand, our parents went ; 
 Spikenard-groves no more to dress. 
 But a thornv wilderness. 
 
(iARDENS, WREATHS. Aa. 43 
 
 Then remember Him, who laid 
 Uncreated splendour by ; 
 Lower than the angels made, 
 Fallen man to glorify. 
 And from death beyond the grave, 
 An apostate world to save. 
 
 Think of Hin • your souls He sought, 
 Wandering never to return. 
 Hath he found you? — At the thought 
 All your hearts within you burn. 
 Then your love like His extend ; 
 Be, like Him, the sinner's friend. 
 
 O'er the city Jesiis wept, 
 
 Dooni'd to perish : — Won't you weep 
 
 O'er a world, by Satan kept. 
 
 Dreaming in delirious sleep, 
 
 'Till the twinkle of an eye 
 
 Wakes them in eternity? 
 
 Ye, who smile with rosy youth. 
 Glow in manhood, fade through years, 
 Send the life, the light, the truth. 
 To dead hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears ; 
 And your very pleasure make 
 Charities, for Jesus' sake. 
 
 So shall gospel-glory run 
 Round the globe, through every clime, 
 Brighter than the circling sun ; 
 Hastening that millennial time 
 
44 GARDENS, WREATHS, Ac 
 
 When the earth shall be restored, 
 As the garden of the Lord. 
 
 Ye, who own this quiet place, 
 
 Here, like Enoch, walk with God ; 
 
 And, till summon'd hence, through graoe, • 
 
 Tread the path your Saviour trod , 
 
 Then to Paradise on high. 
 
 With the wings of angola fly 
 
COLLECTION OF FLOWERS. 
 
ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLATE 
 r ringed i'lnx. 
 Disdain. 
 
 Away ! I seek no smile of thme ; 
 
 Within those shining eyes, 
 The trifler's soul, revealed to mine, 
 
 Doth wear no vain disguise. 
 
 Thv words are weighed with costly art, 
 They come not wil lly free — 
 
 Oh ! never hath my spirit part 
 With one I deem like thee. 
 
 L, H 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 CHARLES F. HOFFMAN. 
 
 Teach thee their language 1 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 
 Tlicir language. Prytliee ! why they are themselves 
 
 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 still how oft their soft and starry eyes — 
 
 Now bent to earth, to heaven now mutely pleading 
 Their incense fainting as it seeks the skies, 
 
 Yet still from earth with freshening hope receding- 
 How often 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. 
 
THE SNOVV-DROP. 
 
 The Snow-drop (which may be found in meadows and 
 orchards) receives its name from the whiteness of its 
 flower, and the time of its appearance, which is often 
 when snow is on the ground. Its botanical appellation is 
 Galanthus nivalis, or snowy milk flower. 
 
 The Snow-drop, considered as the harbinger of spring 
 and the promise of future blessings, is the most cheering 
 and welcome of plants. Rearing its spotless head amid 
 frost and storm, it gives joyous sign of that coming sea- 
 son which is to restore the delights of budding flowers 
 nnd sunny skies. But there are some persons who, though 
 ■' skilled in nature's lore," deny that it is adapted to awaken 
 pleasing anticipations. " The Snow-drop," writes Mr. 
 ^^napp,* " is a melancholy flower. The season in which 
 the ' Fair maids of February' come out, is the most dreary 
 and desolate of our year : they peep through the snow 
 that oftefl' surrounds them, shivering and cheerless ; they 
 convey no idea of reviving nature, and are scarcely the 
 liarbingers of milder days, but rather the emblem of sleety 
 storms, and icy gales, (snow-drop weather,) and wrap 
 their petals round the infant germ, fearing to admit the 
 very air that blows ; and when found beyond the verge 
 of cultivation, they most generally remind us of some 
 
 * See " Journal of a Naxuralist" 
 
 (49) 
 
50 SNOW-DROP. 
 
 deserted dwelling, a family gone, a hearth .hat smokes 
 no more." 
 
 Alheady now the snow-drop dares appear. 
 The first pale blossom of th' unripen'd year : 
 As Flora's breath, by some transforming power. 
 Had changed an icicle into a flower. 
 Its name and hue the scentless plant retains, 
 And winter lingers in its icy veins. 
 
 BARBAULD. 
 
 Oh ! sweetly beautiful it is to mark 
 
 The virgin, vernal snow-drop ! lifting up — 
 Meek as a nun — the whiteness of its cup. 
 
 From earth's dead bosom, desolate and dark. 
 
 ANOKo 
 
 First in bright Flora's train Galantha glows, 
 And prints with frolic step the melting snows : ^.^ 
 Chides with her dulcet voice the tardy spijiig. 
 Bids slumbering Zephyr stretch his folded wing. 
 Wakes the hoarse cuckoo in his gloomy cave, 
 And calls the wandering dormouse from his grave 
 Bids the mute redbreast cheer the budding grove. 
 And plaintive ringdove tune her notes to love. 
 
 DAHWIN 
 
SNOW-UROP. 
 
 THE SNOW-DROP. 
 
 Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow, 
 The early herald of the infant year, 
 Ere yet the adventurous crocus dares to blow, 
 Beneath the orchard boughs thy buds appear. 
 
 While still the cold north-east ungenial lowers, 
 And scarce the hazel in the leafless copse 
 Or sallows show their downy powder'd flowers. 
 The grass is spangled with thy silver drops. 
 
 Yet when those pallid blossoms shall give place 
 To countless tribes of richer hue and scent, — 
 Summer's gay blooms, and Autumn's yellow race, 
 
 I shall thy pale inodorous bells lament. 
 
 * 
 
 So journeying onward in life's varymg tracfc. 
 E'en whJA^warm youth its bright illusion lends, 
 Fond memory often with regret looks back 
 To childhood's pleasure and to infant friends. 
 
 The same. — langhorne. 
 
 Poets still, in graceful numbers. 
 May the glowing roses choose; 
 
 But the Snow-drop's simple beauty 
 Better guits an humble Muse. 
 5* 
 
53 SNOW-DROP. 
 
 Earliest bud that decks the garden, 
 
 Fairest of the fragrant race, 
 First-born child of vernal Flora, 
 
 Seeking mild thy lowly place ; 
 
 Though no warm or murmuring zephyr 
 Fan thy leaves with balmy wing. 
 
 Pleased we hail thee, spotless blossom, 
 Herald of the infant Spring. 
 
 Through the cold and cheerless seasoil 
 
 Soft thy tender form expands, 
 Safe in unaspiring graces, _ 
 
 Foremost of the bloomy bands. - 
 
 White-robed flower, in lonely beauty 
 
 Rising trom a wintry bed ; 
 Chilling winds, and blasts ungenial, 
 
 Rudely threat'ning round thy heado 
 
 Silvery bud, thy pensile foliage S' 
 
 Seems the angry blasts to fear; 
 
 Yet secure, thy tender texture 
 Orn,..nents the rising year. 
 
 No warm tints, or vivid col'nng. 
 Paint thy Mis with gaudy pride , 
 
 Mildly charm'd, we seek thy fragrance. 
 Where no thorns insidious hide 
 
SNOW- DROP. 53 
 
 'Tis not thine, with flaunting beauty 
 
 To attract the roving sight ; 
 Nature, from her varied wardrobe. 
 
 Chose thy vest of purest white. 
 
 White, as falls the fleecy shower. 
 
 Thy soft form in sweetness grows; 
 Not more fair the valley's treasure. 
 
 Not more sweet her lily blows. 
 
 Drooping harbinger of Flora, 
 
 Simply are thy blossoms drest ; 
 Artless as the gentle virtues, 
 
 Mansion'd in the blameless breast. 
 
 When to pure and timid virtue 
 
 Friendship twines a votive wreath. 
 O'er the fair selected garden 
 
 Thou thy perfume soft shall breatlte. 
 
 The same. — montcomer* 
 
 Winter, retire ! 
 
 Thy reign is past ; 
 
 Hoary Sire ! 
 
 Yield the sceptre of thy sway, 
 
 Sound thy trumpet in the blast, 
 
 And call thy storms away : 
 
 Winter, retire ! 
 
 Wherefore do thy wheels delay 
 
 Mount the chariot of thine ire, 
 
 And quit the realms of day ; 
 
64 SNOW-DROP 
 
 On thy state 
 
 Whirlwinds wait • 
 
 And blood-shot meteors lend thee light, 
 
 Hence to dreary arctic regions, 
 
 Summon thy terrific legions ; 
 
 Hence to caves of northern night 
 
 Speed thy flight. 
 
 From halcyon seas 
 
 And purer skies, 
 
 O southern breeze ' 
 
 Awake, arise : 
 
 Breath of heaven ! benignly blow, 
 
 Melt the snow ; 
 
 Breath of heaven ! unchain the floods, 
 
 Warm the woods, 
 
 And make the mountains flow. 
 
 Auspicious to the Muse's prayer, 
 
 The freshening gale 
 
 Embalms the vale. 
 
 And breathes enchantment through the a^^s 
 
 On its wing t- 
 
 Floats the spring 
 
 With glowing eye, and golJen hair- 
 
 Dark before her angel-form, 
 
 She drives the Demon of the g^orm, 
 
 Like Gladness chasing Care. 
 
 Winter's gloomy night withdrawn, 
 Lo ! the young romantic Hours 
 
SNOW-DROP. 51 
 
 Search the hill, the dale, the lawn, 
 
 To behold the snow-beop white 
 
 Start to light, 
 
 And shine in Flora's desert bowers, 
 
 Beneath the vernal dawn, 
 
 The Morning Star of Flowers ! 
 
 O welcome to our isle. 
 
 Thou Messenger of peace ! 
 
 At whose bewitching smile 
 
 The embattled tempests cease ; 
 
 Emblem of Innocence and Truth ' 
 
 First-borrJ of Nature's womb, 
 
 When strong in renovated youth. 
 
 She bursts tl-om Winter's tomb ; 
 
 T! y parent's eye hath shed 
 
 A precious desv-drop on ihine neac. 
 
 Frail as a mother's tear 
 
 Upon her infant's face, 
 
 When ardent hope to tender fear. 
 
 And anxious love, gives place. 
 
 B«t lo ! the dew-drop flits away, 
 
 The sun salutes thee with a ray 
 
 Warm as a mother's kiss, 
 
 Upon her infant's cheek. 
 
 When the heart bounds with bliss. 
 
 And joy that cannot speak ! 
 
 — When I mget thee by the way, 
 
 Like a pretty, sportive child. 
 
 On the winter-wasted wild. 
 
66 SNOW- DUO P. 
 
 Wilh thy darling breeze at play, 
 Opening to the radiant sky 
 All the sweetness of thine eye; 
 
 — Or bright with sunbeams, fresh with showers, 
 O thou Fairy-Queen of flowers ! 
 
 Watch thee o'er the plain advance 
 At the head of Flora's dance ; 
 Simple sNow-DROP ! then in thee 
 All thy sister-train I see : 
 Every brilliant bud that blows, 
 From the blue-bell to the rose ; 
 All the beauties that appear 
 On the bosom of the year ; 
 All that wreathe the locks of Spring. 
 Sun-iiner's ardent breath perfume, 
 (ii on the lap of Autumn blnr.m, 
 All to thee their tribute bring, 
 Exhale their incense at thy shrine, 
 
 — Their hues, their oilnurs all are tli:ii.;: 
 For while thy huiuble form I view, 
 
 The Muse's keen prophetic sight W9 
 
 Brings fair Futurity to light, 
 
 And Fancy's magic makes the vision true. 
 
 — There is a Winter in my sou., 
 The \\'in!or of despair; 
 
 Oh I when shall Spring its rage control ? 
 \Vhcn shall the stnow-drop blossdm there? 
 Cold gleams of comfort sometimes dart 
 A dawn of glory on my heart 
 
SNOW-DROP. fi7 
 
 But quickly pass away : 
 
 Thus Northern lights the gloom adorn, 
 
 And give the promise of a morn 
 
 That never turns to day I 
 
 — But hark ! methinks I hear 
 
 A small still whisper in mine ear ; 
 
 " Rash youth, repent ! 
 
 " Afflictions, from above, 
 
 " Are Angels sent 
 
 " On embassies of love. 
 
 " A fiery legion, at thy birth, 
 
 " Of chastening woes were given, 
 
 " To pluck thy Lflowers of Hope from earth, 
 
 " And plant them high 
 
 " O'er yonder sky, 
 
 " Transform'd to stars, — and fix'd in heaven." 
 
 The same. — howitt. 
 
 The Snow-drop I 't is an English flower, 
 And grows beneath our garden trees : 
 For every heart it has a dower 
 Of old and dear remembrances ; 
 All look upon it, and straightway 
 Recall their youth, like yesterday ! — 
 Their sunny years, when forth they weci! 
 Wandering in weariless content ; 
 Their little plot of garden ground. 
 The nleasant orchard's quiet bound ; 
 
ft8 SNOW-DUOP. 
 
 Their father's home, so free from care, 
 And the familiar faces there : 
 
 The household voices, liind and sweet, 
 That knew no feigning — liuih'd and gone i 
 The mother that was sure to greet 
 Their coming with a welcome tone ; 
 The brothers, that were children then. 
 Now anxious, thoughtful, toiling men; 
 And the kind sisters, whose glad mirth 
 Was like a sunshine on the earth ; — 
 These come back to the heart supine, 
 Flower of our youth ! at look of thine ; 
 And thou, among the dimm'd and gone. 
 Art an unalter'd thing alone ! 
 
 Unchanged, unchanged the very flower 
 That grew in Eden droopingly. 
 Which now, beside the peasant's door 
 Awakes his merry children's glee, 
 E'en as it fill'd his heart with joy, ^ 
 Beside his mother's door — i boy : 
 The same, and to his heart it brings 
 The freshness of those vanish'd springs. 
 Bloom, then, fair flower ! in sun and shade 
 For deep thought in thy cup is laid, 
 And careless children, in their glee, 
 A sacred memory make of thee. 
 
SJNOW-DROP 59 
 
 THE SNOW-DROP'S CALL. 
 
 MISS E. EMRA. 
 
 Who else is coming? — There's sunshine here* 
 Ye would strew the way for the infant year: 
 The frost-winds blow on the barren hill, 
 And icicles hang on the quarry still ; 
 But sunny, and shelter'd, and safe, are we, 
 In the moss at the foot of the sycamore tree. 
 
 Are ye not coming? the first birds sing; 
 They call to her bowers the lingering Spring ; 
 And, afar to his'-'home near the north-pole star 
 Old Winter is gone in his snow-clad car ; 
 And the storms are past, and the sky is clear, 
 And we are alone, sweet sisters ! here. 
 
 Will ye not follow? Ye safe shall be 
 In the green moss under the sycamore tree. 
 And, oh 1 there is health in the clear cold breeze, 
 And a sound of joy in the leafless trees ; 
 And the sun is pale, yet his pleasant gleam 
 Has walteti'd the earth, and unchain'd the stream 
 Ana the soft west-wind, oh, it gently blows ! 
 Hasten to follow, pale lady Primrose ! 
 And Hyacinth graceful, and Crocus gay, 
 For we have not met this many a day. 
 Follow us, follow us! fol' jw us then. 
 All ye whose home is in. grove or glen. 
 Why do ye linger? Who else is coming. 
 Now Spring is awake with the wild bees' humming? 
 6 
 
THE PRI.MROSR 
 
 The botanic name, Primula, is derived from primvs, 
 first, prime, or early, and hence prime-rose contracted into 
 primrose. 
 
 This little flower, in itself so fair, shows yet fairer from 
 he early season of its appearance ; peeping forth even from 
 the retreating snows of winter. It forms a happy shade of 
 union between the delicate Snow-drop and' the flaming Cro- 
 cus, which also venture forth in the very dawn of spring. 
 
 Bring the rathe primiose that forsaken dies. 
 
 , LVCIDAS. 
 
 PaTjE primroses 
 
 That die unmarried, ere they can behold 
 Bright Phcsbus in his strength. 
 
 winter's tale. 
 
 The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. 
 
 Milton's may morning. 
 
 Oh ! who can speak his joys when spring's ySUng morn 
 From wood and pasture open'd on his view. 
 
 When tender i;reen buds blush upon the thorn, 
 And the first primrose dips its leaves in dew ! 
 
 And while he pluck'd the primrose in its pride, 
 He ponder'd o'er its bloom, 'tween joy and pain ; 
 
 And a rude sonnet in its praise he tried, 
 
 Where n:iturc'« simple A'ay the aid of art supplied. 
 
 CLARB. 
 (601 
 
I'RIMRO.SH 6J 
 
 TO THE PEIMROSE. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Mark in yonder thorny vale, 
 
 Fearless of the falling snows, 
 Careless of the chilly gale, 
 
 Passing sweet the Primrose blows. 
 
 Milder gales and warmer beams 
 
 May the gaudier flow'rets rear ; 
 But to me the Primrose seems 
 
 Proudest gem that decks the year. 
 
 THE Early primrose 
 
 H. K. WHITE. 
 
 Mild offspring of a dark and sullen sire ! 
 Whose modest form, so delicately fine, 
 
 Was nursed in wliirling storms, 
 
 And cradled in the winds. 
 
 Thee, when young Spring first question'd Winter'.s pw^y, 
 And dared the sturdy blusterer to the fight, 
 
 Thee on this bank he threw, 
 
 To mark his victory. 
 
 In this low vale, the promise of the year, 
 Serene, thou openest to the nipping gale. 
 
 Unnoticed and alone, 
 
 Thy tender elegance. 
 
62 PRIM HOSE. 
 
 So Virtue blooms, brought forth amid the storms 
 Of chill adversity; in some lone walk 
 
 Of life she rears her head, 
 
 Obscure and unobserved ; — 
 
 While every bleaching breeze tha^ on her biows. 
 Chastens her spotless purity of breast, 
 
 And hardens her to bear. 
 
 Serene, the ills of life. 
 
 THE PRIMROSE. 
 
 MRS. HEMANS. 
 
 I SAW it in ray evening walk, 
 
 A little lonely flower; 
 Under a hollow bank it grew, 
 
 Deep in a mossy bower. 
 
 An oak's gnarl'd root to roof the cave, 
 With gothic fretwork sprung, 
 
 Whence jewell'd fern, and arum leaves, 
 And ivy garlands hung. 
 
 And close beneath came sparkling out. 
 From an old tree's fallen shell, 
 
 A little rill, that clipt about 
 The lady in her cell. 
 
 And there, methought, wit! bashful pride 
 
 She seem'd to sit and look 
 On her own maiden loveliness, 
 
 Pale imatieil in the brook. 
 
PRIMROSE, 53 
 
 No Other flower, no rival grew 
 
 Beside my pensive maid ; 
 She dwelt alone, a cloister'd nun 
 
 In solitude and shade. 
 
 No sunbeam on that fairy pool, 
 
 Darted its dazzling light ; 
 Only, methought, some clear, cold star 
 
 Might tremble there at night. 
 
 No ruffling wind could reach her there, 
 
 No eye, methought, but mine ; 
 Or the -voung larnbs that came to drink, 
 
 Had spieyi.her secret shrine. 
 
 And there was pleasantness to me 
 
 In such belief; — cold eyes 
 That slight dear Nature's loveliness, 
 
 Profane her mysteries. 
 
 Long time I look'd and linger'd there, 
 
 Absorb'd in still delight ; 
 My spirit drank deep quietness 
 
 In, with that quiet sight. 
 
 The same. — glare. 
 
 Welcome, pale Primrose! starting up between 
 Dead matted leaves of ash and oak, that strew 
 The very lawn, the wood, and spinney through, 
 
 'Mid creeping moss and ivy's darkei green: 
 
S4 PRJMROSE 
 
 How much thy presence beautifies the ground 1 
 How sweet thy modest, unaffected pride 
 Glows on the sunny bank, and wood's warm side. 
 
 And where thy fairy flowers in groups are found, 
 The school-boy roams enchantedly along, 
 
 Plucking the fairest with a rude delight : 
 While the meek shepherd stops his simple song. 
 
 To gaze a moment on the pleasing sight ; 
 O'erjoy'd to see the flowers that truly bring 
 The welcome news of sweet returning Spring. 
 
 The Same. — mickle. 
 
 Say, gentle lady of the bower, 
 For thou, though young, art wise ; 
 
 And known to thee is every flower 
 Beneath our milder skies : 
 
 Say, which the plant of modest dye, 
 And lovely mien combined, 
 
 That fittest to the pensive eye 
 Displays the virtuous mind. 
 
 I sought the garden's boasted haunt ; 
 
 Rut on the gay parterre 
 Carnations glow, and tulips flaunt, — 
 
 No humble flow'ret there. 
 
PRIMROSE. 65 
 
 The flower you seek, the nymph replies, 
 Has bovv'd the languid head ; • 
 
 For on its bloom the blazing skies 
 Their sultry rage have shed. 
 
 Yet search yon shade obscure, forlorn, 
 ^JPliere rude the bramble grows ; 
 There, shaded by the humble thorn, 
 The lingering primrose blows. 
 
 iSES FHil 
 
 TO PRIiVIKO.SES FILLED WITH MORNING DEW. 
 
 ^"i^ERRICK. 
 
 Why do you weep? Can tears 
 
 Speak grief in you 
 
 Who were but born 
 Just as the modest morn 
 Teem'd her refreshing dew? 
 
 Alas ! you have not known that shower 
 That mars a flower ; 
 Nor felt th' unkind 
 Breath of a blasting wind ; 
 Nor are ye worn with years ; 
 
 Nor warp'd as we, 
 Who think it strange to see 
 Such pretty flowers, like to orphans young. 
 To speak by tears before ye have a tongue. 
 
6fi PRIMROSE. 
 
 Speak, « * * * and make kuowj! 
 The reason why 
 Ye droop and weep. 
 Is it for want of sleep, 
 Or childish lullaby? 
 Or that ye have not "een as yel ; 
 
 The violet ? ^Ptf. 
 
 * * # » » 
 
 * % * * « 
 No, no ; this sorrow, shown 
 
 By your tears shed, 
 Would have this lecture read,^^P~' 
 That tnings ot greatest, so of rr|eane» (voru.. 
 
 Conceived with grief are, and*wit'i '^a s b r.n^ht fort!' 
 
COWSLIP. 
 
 TjM naniAoi Cowslip seems to be derived from tne 
 
 Saxoi^^g^r Cuslippe, and was probably given to the 
 
 flower on account of the resemblance which its perfume 
 
 has to the breath of a cow, or from its being so closelj' 
 
 pressed by the lip of the cow in the pastures, where it is 
 
 considered an injurious weed. 
 — ^^^"^ 
 The Primrose Jfseeks the partial shade of hedgerows, 
 
 the banks of sh^tered fcnes, and the borders of woods 
 
 and coppices, delightii^Pn concealment ; but the Cowslip 
 
 advances boldly into the open fields, and decorates the 
 
 sloping hills with its pendent umbels of fragrant blossoms. 
 
 The corollas of the Cowslip are often gathered to make 
 
 a kind of liqueur wine, which is thought to promote sleep 
 
 "Thy little sons 
 Permit to ran^e the pastures ; gladly they 
 Will mow the Cowslip posies, faintly sweet, 
 from whince thou artificial wines shall drain 
 Ot icy taste, that, in mid fervours, best 
 Slack craving thirst, and mitigate the day." 
 
 Phillips. 
 
 How cheerful along the gay mead. 
 The Daisy and Cowslip appear ! 
 
 err) 
 
08 COWSLIP. 
 
 When April's smiles the flowery lawn adorn, 
 And modest Cowslips deck the streamlet's side; 
 
 When fragrant orchards to the roseate morn 
 
 Unfold their bloom, in heaven's own colours dyed. 
 
 vLB 
 
 r«" 
 
 The flowery May, who from her green lap throw* 
 The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrjse. 
 
 MILTOR 
 
 Wheee the bee sticks, there lurk 1 ; 
 
 In a Cowslip's bell I lie: 
 
 There I couch when owls do cry. 
 
 TEMPEST. 
 
 Whilst from off the waters Hrrt 
 Thus 1 set my printless f^:l■t. 
 O'er the diw^lip's velvet head 
 Thnt bends not as [ tread. 
 
 MILTON 
 
 — rich in vegetable gold, 
 
 From calyx pale the freckled Cowslip born. 
 Receives in amber cup the fragrant dews of morn. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Cowslips wan, that hang the pensive head. 
 
 MILTON 
 
COWSLIP. ti9 
 
 ON FINDING AN EARLY COWSLIP. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 It is the same ! -t is the very scent — 
 
 That ]J|«i yet luscious, meadow-breathuig sweet 
 
 Whi^R^^^mber when my childish feet, 
 
 Wit^MnegWife's rejoicing spirit, went 
 
 Through the deep grass with wild flow'rs richly blent, 
 
 That smiled to high Heav'n from their verdant seat, 
 
 But it brings not to thee such joy complete : 
 
 Thou canst not see, as I do, how we spent 
 
 In blessedness, intsunBhine, and in flowers. 
 
 The beautiful noon; andfthen, how, seated round 
 
 The odorous pile, jpo^pjie shaded ground, 
 
 A boyish group— ;- we laugh'd away the hours, 
 
 Plucking the yellow blooms for future v/ine, 
 
 While o'er us play'd a mother's smile divine. 
 
 COWSLIPS. 
 
 HOWITT. 
 
 Oh ! fragrant dwellers of the lea. 
 When firet the wild wood rings 
 With each sound of vernal minstrelsy 
 When fresh the green grass springs . 
 
 What can the blessed Spring restore 
 More gladdening than your charms 
 Bringing the memory once more 
 Of lovely fields and farms ! 
 
"0 COWSLIP. 
 
 Of thickets, breezes, birds, and flowers - 
 Of life's unfolding prime ; 
 Of thoughts as cloudless as the hours ; 
 Of souls without a crime. 
 
 Oh I blessed, blessed do ye seem. 
 For, even now, I turn'd. 
 With soul athirst for wood and stream,"" 
 From streets that glared and burn'd : 
 
 From the hot town, where mortal care 
 His crowded fold doth pen ; 
 Where stagnates the polluted air 
 In many a sultry den. 
 
 And ye are here 1 and yware here ! 
 Drinking the dewlike wine, 
 'Midst living gales, and waters clear. 
 And heaven's unstinted shine. 
 
 I care not that your little life 
 
 Will quickly have run through, 
 
 And the sward, with summer children rife 
 
 Keep not a trace of you. ° 
 
 For again, again, on dewy plain, 
 
 I trust to see you rise, 
 
 When spring renews the wild wood strain. 
 
 And bluer gleam the skies. 
 
 Again, again, when many springs 
 Upon mv grave shall shine, 
 Here shall you speak of vanish'd things, 
 To living Ik'jivIs of mine. 
 
THE DAISY 
 
 We presume that this flower was called daisy or day's- 
 eye, from the nature of its blossom, which expands at the 
 onening of day and closes at sunset. 
 
 The little duzie that at evening closes. 
 
 Spenser. 
 By a daisy, whose leaves spread, 
 Shut when Titan goes to bed. 
 
 G. Withers. 
 
 The most careless abserver of plants must have noticed, 
 that the daisy not only^)ses its petals at night, but that 
 they are also carefully folded over the yellow disk in rainy 
 weather. It musMJkeij'ise have struck the attention of the 
 curious, that not onlyHfnis flower, but most others which are 
 natives of moist climates, have the power, we may almost 
 say instinct, of securing their essential parts of fructification 
 from the rains of the day or the dews of the night, whilst 
 those of regular dry climates are quite destitute of this wise 
 provision of nature. 
 
 ol^r 
 
 By dimpled brool^nd fountain brim, 
 
 The wood-nymphs, deck'd with daisies trim. 
 
 Their merry wakes and \ astimes keep. 
 
 Miltdn's CoMirs 
 
 in the spring and play-time of the year, 
 
 That calls the unwonted villager abroad 
 With all her little ones, a sportive train, 
 
 (7V 
 
73 DAISI. 
 
 To ga.her kingcups in the yellow mead. 
 And prank their hair with daisies. 
 
 COWPEK. 
 
 The daisy scatter'd on each mead and down, 
 A golden tuft within a silver crown ; 
 Fair fall that dainty flower ! and may there be 
 No shepherd graced that doth not honour ihee i 
 
 W. BROWNE. 
 
 For scarcely on Devonia's genial sky 
 The faithful daisy shuts her w atchful eye ! 
 
 CABEXNl^TOX. 
 
 ^f 
 
 ) 
 TO A DAISY, BLOO.MIXG IN THE DEPTh'oF WINTER 
 
 MILLHOUSE. ^ 
 
 Too forward Beauty I was it wisely done, 
 
 Thus premature to throw thy virgin charms 
 
 Into decrepit January's arms? 
 A tardy wooer he ; for, lo ! his sun 
 
 With grudging aspect gives a feeble ray. 
 Soon will the circle of thy joys be run ; 
 Thy spring shall finish ere 'tis vv dfBl begun. 
 
 Nor ever greet the nuptial tribes of May. 
 
 E'en while thou dost unfold thy bosom gay, 
 I hear the tempest muttering in the north; 
 1 he breezes, keener-edged, are coming forth ; 
 
 And how shalt thou withstand the icy fray] 
 Sweet floret! while thy fate I thus bemoan. 
 Gloomy anticipation paints my own. 
 
DAISY 
 THE DAISY. 
 
 OM FLNDINC GNB IN FULL DLOOAI OH CHKISTUAB O^v 
 MONTGOMERY. 
 
 There is a flower, a little flower, 
 With silver crest and golden eye. 
 That welcomes every changing hour. 
 And weathers every sky. 
 
 The prouder beauties of the field, 
 In gay but quick succession shine ; 
 Race after race their honours yield — 
 They flourish and decline. 
 
 But this small fj^^r, to Nature dear, 
 While moons and stars their courses rua. 
 Wreathes the 'wPhole circle of the year, 
 Companion of the sun. 
 
 It smiles upon the lap of May, 
 To sultry August spreads its charms, 
 Lights pale October on his way, 
 And twines December's arms. 
 
 The purplejieath, and golden broom, 
 On moory ^R)untains catch the gale. 
 O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume. 
 The violet in he vale. 
 
 But this bold floweret climbs the hill, 
 Hides in the forest, haunts the glen, 
 Plays on the margin of the rill, 
 Peeps round the fox's den. 
 
74 D A I ri X , 
 
 Within (he garden's cultured round 
 It shares the sweet carnation's bed ; 
 And blooms on consecrated ground, 
 In honour of the dead. 
 
 The lambkin crops its crimson gem , 
 The wild bee murmurs on its breast; 
 The blue-fly bends its pensile stem, 
 Light, o'er the sky-lark's nest. 
 
 'Tis Flora's page: — In every place, 
 In every season, fresh and fair, 
 It opens with perennial grace, -j 
 And blossoms everywhere. ^ 
 
 On waste and woodland, rock and plaia, 
 Its humble buds unheeded rise : 
 The rose has but a summer reign ; 
 The daisy never dies. 
 
 The same. — leyden. 
 
 Star of the mead ! sweet daughter of the day, 
 Whose opening flower invites the morning ray, 
 From thy moist cheek, and bosom's chijdj fold. 
 To kiss the tears of eve, the dew-drops cold ! 
 Sweet Daisy, flower of love ! when birds are pair'd, 
 'T is sweet to see thee with thy bosom bared. 
 Smiling, in virgin innocence, serene. 
 Thy pearly crown above thy vest of green. 
 The lark, with sparkling eye, and rustling wing. 
 Rejoins his widow'd mate in early spring, 
 
DAISY 75 
 
 And as she prunes his plumes, of russet hue, 
 Swears, on thy maiden blossom, to be true. 
 
 Oil have I watch'd thy closing buds at eve. 
 Which for the parting sun-beams seem'd to grieve, 
 And, when gay morning gilt the dew-bright plain. 
 Seen them unclasp their folded leaves again : 
 Nor he who sung — 'the Daisy is so sweet' — 
 More dearly loved thy pearly form to greet ; 
 M'hen on his scarf- the knight the Daisy bound, 
 And dames at tourneys shone, with daisies crownM 
 And fays forsook the purer fields above. 
 To hail the daisy, flo'wer of faithful lov(. 
 
 The same. — woKDswoETfl. 
 
 With little her& to do or see 
 
 Of thmgs that in the great world be, 
 
 Sweet Daisy ! oft I talk to thee, 
 
 For thou art worthy, — 
 Thou unassuming Common-place 
 Of nature, with that homely face. 
 And yet with something of a grace, 
 
 Which L(^ makes for thee ! 
 
 Oft on the dappled turf at ease 
 
 I sit, and play with similies, 
 
 Loose types of Things through all degrees, 
 
 Thoughts of thy raising : 
 And many a fond and idle name 
 I give to thee, for praise or blame, 
 
76 DAISY. 
 
 As is the liumour of the game, 
 While I am gazing. 
 
 A Nun demure, of lowly port ; 
 
 Or sprightly Maiden, of Love's Court, 
 
 In thy simplicity the sport 
 
 Of all temptations ; 
 A Queen in crown of rubies drest ; 
 A Starveling in a scanty vest ; 
 Are all, as seems to suit thee best. 
 
 Thy appellations. 
 
 A little Cyclops, with one eye 
 
 Staring to threaten and defy, 
 
 That thought comes next — andjinsta&t; 
 
 The freak is over. 
 The shape will vanish, and behold 
 A silver Shield with boss of gold. 
 That spreads itself, some Faery bold 
 
 In fight to cover ! 
 
 I see thee glittering from afar; — ^ 
 And then thou art a pretty Star;^' 
 Not quite so fair as many are 
 
 In heaven above thee ! 
 Yet like a star, with glittering crest, 
 SelfpoiM:d in air thou seem'st to rest,- 
 May peace come never to his nest, 
 
 Who shall renrove thee ! 
 
DAISY. 7T 
 
 tfweet Flower! for by that name at last, 
 When all my reveries are past, 
 [ call thee, and to that cleave fast. 
 
 Sweet silent creature ! 
 That breath'st with me in sun and air. 
 Do thou, as thou art wont, repair 
 My heart with gladness, and a share 
 
 Of thy meek nature ! 
 
 TjPy.4^, MOUNTAIN DAISY. 
 
 ON TURNING ONE DOWN WITH THE PLOTTGH. 
 
 •:,.; BURNS. 
 
 Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower, 
 Thou'st met me in an evil hour, 
 For I must crush among the stoure 
 
 Thy slender stem : 
 To spare thee now is past my powei. 
 
 Thou bonny gem ! 
 
 Alas! 'tis not thy neighbour sweet, 
 The bon^Hlark, companion meet, 
 Bending thee 'mong the dewy wheat, 
 
 With speckled breast — 
 When upward springing, blithe to greet 
 
 The purpling east. ^ 
 
 Cold blew the bitter-biting north 
 Upon thy early humble birth ; 
 
7S DArSY. 
 
 Yet clioerfi,lly thou venturest forth 
 
 Amid the storm, 
 Scarce rear'd above the parent earth 
 
 Thy tender form. 
 
 The flaunting flowers our gardens yield, 
 High-shelt'ring woods and wall must shield; 
 But thou between the random bield 
 
 Of clod or stone, 
 Adorn'st the rugged stubble field, 
 
 Unseen, alone. 
 
 There, in thy scanty mantle cl^. 
 Thy snowy bosom sunward spread. 
 Thou lift'st thy unassuming head 
 
 In humble guise : 
 But now the share uptears thy bed, 
 
 And low it lies I 
 
 THE MICHAELMAS DAISY. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Last smile of the departing year. 
 Thy sister-sweets are flown ! ^P 
 
 Thy pensive wreath is far more dear 
 From blooming thus alone. 
 
 Thy tender blush, thy simple frame, 
 Unnoticed might have pass'd ; 
 But now thou com'st with softer claim, 
 The loveliest and the last. 
 
DAISY. 79 
 
 Sweet are the charms in thee we find, — 
 Emblem of hope's gay wing ; 
 'Tis thine to call past bloom to mind. 
 To promise future spring. 
 
 The same. — miss mitford. 
 
 Within my little garden is a flower — 
 
 A tuft of flowers, most like a sheaf of com, 
 
 The lilac- blossom'd daisy that is born 
 
 At Michaelmas, wrought by the gentle power 
 
 Of this sweet Autumn' into one bright shower 
 
 Of blooming beauty.^ Spring hath nought more fair — 
 
 Four sister butterflies inhabit there : 
 
 Gay, gentle creatures ! Round that odorous bower 
 
 They weave their dance of joy the livelong day, 
 
 Seeming to bless the sunshine; and at night 
 
 Fold their enamell'd wings, as if to pray. 
 
 Home-loving pretty ones ! would that I might 
 
 For richer gifts as cheerful tribute pay, 
 
 So meet the rising dawn, so hail the parting ray. 
 
SWEET VIOLET. 
 
 What the origin of the word Viola is, cannot be pre- 
 cisely determined. It has been fabled, however, that tlie 
 Greek name of the plant, lot- (ion), is taken from the cir-. 
 cumstance, that, when the nymph lo was changed by Jupiter 
 into a cow, this plant sprang from the earth to become her 
 food. From the same fable the term Viola is supposed 'o 
 have had its origin, viola being formed from vitula (which 
 means a young cow) by dropping the t. 
 
 The Viola Odorata, or Sweet Violet, is a native of every 
 part of Europe, in woods, bushes, and hedges, flowering in 
 March and April. The flower varies in colour, though 
 most commonly a deep purple: it is sometimes of a pale 
 purple, sometimes of a red purple, flesh-coloured, or quite 
 white; but it is always delightfully fragrant. 
 
 The growth of the Sweet Violet is not confined to 
 Europe ; it perfumes the paler groves of Barbary during 
 winter, it flourishes in Palestine, and both Japan and China 
 boast of this fragrant flower. Hasselquist tells us that it is 
 one of the plants most esteemed in Syriju and particularly 
 on account of its great use in sherbet, wWch is made with 
 violet sugar. 
 
 Let the beauteous Violet 
 
 Be planted, which, with purple and with gold 
 
 Richly adorn'd, 
 
 And that which creeps pale-colour'd on the ground. 
 
 COI.UIIELLA 
 
 (Mil 
 
VIOLET 91 
 
 -Violets, dim, 
 
 But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, 
 Or Cytherea's breath. 
 
 winter's tale. 
 
 the trembling Violet, which eyes 
 
 The sun but once, and unrepining dies. 
 
 And Violets, whose looks are like the skies. 
 
 BAKRT CORNWALL. 
 
 •steals timidly away, 
 
 Shrinking as Violets do in summer's ray. 
 
 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 odour. 
 
 TWELFTH »*HiHT. 
 
 TO AN EARLY VIOLET. 
 
 Herald ofi^righter hours ! why from thy rest 
 Thus early dost thou start? chill is the gale 
 To form, like thine, so beautiful and frail. 
 The rook, with careful cries that seeks its nest, 
 Flings its broad shadow on thy dewy breast. 
 
 For sunny is the day, though like the smile 
 Dear woman wears, when she wodd fain beguile 
 coldness of her fortune. Upward towers 
 
82 VIOLET. 
 
 The iark, companion of the fields, with thee, 
 And sings unto the clouds his songs of glee I 
 Perchance his skyward dreams are of the flow'rs 
 Which gather round him in June's radiant hours ; 
 When thou, fair comer of the spring, hast shed 
 Thy perfumed breath abroad, and droop'd upon thj 
 bed. 
 
 The same. — anon. 
 
 Sweet, lovely harbinger of Spring, 
 
 Earliest gift in Flora's ring. 
 
 Thy scent exhales on Zephyr's wing, 
 
 Sweet Violet! 
 
 I found you in the lone vale bare. 
 In purest hue, sweet flow'ret rare, 
 AirJ you shall have my dearest care, 
 
 Sweet Violet ' 
 
 You stood like dauntless Virtue pure. 
 You did the pitiless storm endure. 
 And now from harm I '11 you secure, 
 
 Sweet |0olet 
 
 Within my jessamine parterre, 
 'Mid myrtles sweet, and lilies fair. 
 You flow may live, and blossom there, 
 
 Sweet Violet! 
 
VIOLET. 83 
 
 VIOLETS. — A SONNET. 
 
 BAKTON. 
 
 Bbautipul are you in your lowliness ; 
 
 Bright in your hues, delicious in 'your scent; 
 
 Lovely j'our modest blossoms, downward bent, 
 As shrinking from our gaze, yet prompt to bless 
 The passer-by with fragrance, and express 
 
 How gracefully, though mutely eloquent. 
 
 Are unobtrusive worth, and meek content, 
 Rejoicing in their own obscure recess. 
 
 DelightfuL floweiefs ! at the voice of Spring 
 
 Your buds> unfo^ed to its sunbeams bright ; 
 
 And though y/ur blossoms soon shall fade frcm sight, 
 Above your lowly birth-place birds shall sing, 
 And from your clust'ring leaves the glow-worm fling 
 
 The emerald glory of its earth-born light. 
 
 The same. — smith. 
 
 Sweet Violets ! from your humble beds 
 Among the moss, beneath the thorn. 
 You rear j|ur unprotected heads, 
 And brave the cold and cheerless morn 
 Of early March ; not yet are past 
 The wintry cloud, the sullen blast, 
 Which, when your fragrant buds shall blow, 
 May lay those purple beauties low. 
 Ah! stay awhile, till warmer showers, 
 And brighter suns, shall cheer the day ! 
 
84 VIOLET. 
 
 Sweet Violets stay, till hardier flowers 
 
 Prepare to meet the lovely May. 
 
 Then from your mossy shelter come, 
 
 And rival every richer bloom ; 
 
 For though their "colours gayer shine, 
 
 Their odours do not equal thine. 
 
 And thus real merit still may dare to vie 
 
 With all that wealth bestows, or pageant heraldry 
 
 TO A VIOLET. 
 
 BOWHIWG. 
 
 Sweet flower ! Spring's earliest, loveliest gerr ' 
 While other flowers are idly sleeping. 
 
 Thou rear'st thy purple diadem, 
 Meekly from thy seclusion peeping. 
 
 Thou, from thy little secret mound. 
 
 Where diamond dew-drops shine above thee 
 
 Scatterest thy modest fragrance round ; 
 And well may Nature's Poet love thee ! 
 
 Thine is a short, swift reign, I know; 
 
 But here, thy spirit still pervading 
 New Violets' tufts again shall blow. 
 
 Then fade away — as thou art fading — 
 
 And be renew'd ; the hope how blest, 
 (Oh may that hope desert me never !) — 
 
 Like thee to sleep on Nature's breast. 
 And wake again, and bloom for ever 
 
VIOLET. BB 
 
 TO A YELLOW VIOLET 
 
 ANON. 
 
 When beechen buds begin to swell, ' 
 And woods the blue-birds' warble know, 
 
 The yellow Violet's modest bell 
 
 Peeps from the last year's leaves below. 
 
 Ere russet fields their green resume, 
 Sweet flower ! I love, in forest bare, 
 
 To meet thee, when thy faint perfume 
 Alone is in the virgin air. 
 
 Of all her train, the hands of Spring 
 First plant' thee in the watery mould ; 
 
 And I have seen thee blossoming 
 Beside the snow-bank'a edges cold. 
 
 Thy parent sun, who bade thee view 
 Pale skies, and chilling moisture sip, 
 
 Has bathed thee in his own bright hue. 
 And streaked with jet thy glowing lip 
 
 Yet slight thy form, and low thy seat, 
 
 And eBlhward bent thy gentle eye. 
 Unapt thy passing view to meet. 
 
 When loftier flowers are flaunting nigh. 
 
 Oft in the sunless April day, 
 
 Thy early smile has stay'd my walk ; 
 
 But 'midst the gorgeous bloom of May, 
 I pass'd thee on thy humble stalk. 
 8* 
 
8fl VIOLET. 
 
 So they who climb to wealth forget 
 The friends in darker fortunes tried ; 
 
 I copied them — but I regret 
 
 That I should ape the ways of pride. 
 
 And when again the genial hour 
 Awakes the painted tribes of ligh^, 
 
 I 'II not o'erlook the modest flower 
 
 That made the woods of April brif;ht 
 
 TO A WHITE VIOLET. 
 
 H. I. JOHNS. 
 
 Coy inmate of the lowly shade, 
 
 'Mid clustering leaves embosom'd deep, 
 
 Why thus, in modest garb array'd, 
 
 Hid'st thou beneath the hedge-row's steep? 
 
 While gaudier flowers that woo the sun, 
 In all the pride of colour glow. 
 
 Thy odoriferous breath alone, 
 
 Reveals the gem that lurks below. 
 
 So modest worth in humble guise. 
 Retiring, shuns the gazing eye ; 
 
 While round the hallow'd spot arise 
 A thousand sweets that never die ' 
 
VIOLET. 67 
 
 THE. VIOLET. 
 
 MISS LAriDON. 
 
 Why bettei than the lady rose, 
 
 Loye I this little flower? 
 Because its fragrant leaves are those 
 
 I loved in childhood's hour. 
 
 Though many a flower may win my praise 
 
 The Violet has my love ; 
 I did not pass my childish days 
 
 In garden or in grove : 
 
 My garden* was the window-seat, 
 
 Upon whose edge was set 
 A littie vase, — the fair, the sweet, — 
 
 It was the Violet. 
 
 It was my pleasure and my pride : — 
 
 How I did watch its growth I 
 For health and bloom what plans I tried, 
 
 And often injured both. 
 
 I placed it in the summer shower, 
 
 I placed ■in the sun ; 
 And ever, at the evening hour. 
 
 My work seem'd half undone. 
 
 The broad leaves spread, the small buds grew 
 
 How slow they seem'd to be : 
 At last there came a tinge of blue, — 
 
 'Twas worth the world to me. 
 
88 VIOLET. 
 
 At length the perfume fiU'd the room. 
 Shed from the purple wreath ; 
 
 No flower has now so rich a bloom, 
 Has now so sweet a breath. 
 
 I gather'd two or three, — they seem'd 
 
 Such rich gifts to bestow, — 
 So precious in my sight, I deem'd 
 
 That all must think them so. 
 
 Ah ! who is there but would be fain 
 
 To be a child once more, 
 If future years could bring again 
 
 All that they brought before? 
 
 My heart's world has been long o'erthrowR, 
 
 It is no more of flowers ; — 
 Tlieir bloom is past, their breath is flow©, 
 
 Yet I recall those hours. 
 
 Let Nature spread her loveliest. 
 
 By spring or summer nurst ; 
 Yet still I love the Violet best, 
 
 Because I loved it first. 
 
THE CROCUS. 
 
 Some derive the name of this flower from a beautiful 
 youth named Crocus, who is said to have been consumed by 
 the ardour of his affection for Smilax ; and afterwards meta- 
 morphosed into the plant which still bears his name. Others 
 suppose it to be taken from Coriscus, a city and mountain 
 of Cilicia. 
 
 The Spring Crocus is common in various parts of Eu- 
 rope : there are many varieties ; and as this kind furnishes 
 the florists witljfseed, new varieties continually occur. The 
 most usual are the Common Yellow, Great Yellow, Deep 
 Blue, Light Blue, White with Blue Stripes, Blue with White 
 Stripes, White with a Purple Base, and Cream-coloured, — 
 all natives of Britain : as also several from Scotland ; the 
 Black and White Striped, Cloth of Gold, &c. 
 
 The Yellow is the most showy for the garden, and the 
 Purple the most beautiful ; the White the most conspicuous, 
 and the most curious. 
 
 If the season be mild, this plant will sometimes flower 
 in February, ^d continue to enliven the parterre until April. 
 
 Crocus and Smilax may be turn'd to flowers, 
 And the Curetes spring from bounteous showers 
 1 pass a hundred legends stale as these. 
 And with sweet novelty your taste will please. 
 
 OVID. 
 
 (891 
 
9U CROCUS. 
 
 And sudden Hyacinths the turf bestrow, 
 And flowery Crocus made the mountain glow. 
 
 HOMES 
 
 THE CROCUS. 
 
 J. R. PEIOH. 
 
 Daintv young thing 
 Of life ! — thou vent'rous flower, 
 Who growest through the hard, cold bower 
 
 Of wintry spring : — 
 
 Thou various-hued. 
 Soft, voiceless bell, whose spire 
 Rocks in the grassy leaves like wire. 
 
 In solitude ; — 
 
 Like patience, thou 
 Art quiet in thy earth, 
 Instructing Hope that Virtue's birth 
 
 Is Feeling's vow. 
 
 Thy fancied bride ! — 
 The delicate Snow-drop, keeps ^ 
 
 Her home with thee; she wakes ana sleeps 
 
 Near thy true side. 
 
 Will man but hear ! 
 A simple flower can tell 
 What beauties in his mind should dwell 
 
 Through Passion's sphere. 
 
CROCUS. 91 
 
 THE AUTUMNAL CROCUS. 
 
 HOWITT. 
 
 Thy bower, with vine unshaded. 
 
 Stands desolate and lone; 
 The flowers of spring have faded, 
 
 The summer birds are flown. 
 Thy home — fwhose claims are stronger 
 
 Than time can e'er efface; 
 Thy garden — thine no longer — 
 
 Have lost each look of grace: 
 For the stranger's foot has gone there, and left a ruin'd 
 
 place. 
 
 The past came o'er my spirit — 
 
 Thy kindness, and thy faith ; 
 And must thou grief inherit, 
 
 And life's^ndreamed-of scathe? 
 Is it thou — the gentlest, fairest, 
 
 Like man must nerve thy heart. 
 And teach him how thou darest 
 
 Meet fortune's keenest dart; 
 Then look on all thou loved from youth, and patiently 
 
 depart 1 
 
 9 
 
03 CROCUS. 
 
 'T was so : in vain I sought thee 
 
 Within ray garden-bower ; 
 And from the fields I brought thee, — 
 
 Pale iiutumn's faithful flower. 
 Spring flowers, like fortune's lightness, 
 
 With calm skies pass away ; 
 But this reveals its brightness 
 
 'Mid silence and decay ; 
 Like thy pure steadfast spirit, strong in sorrow's darkest 
 
 day. 
 
LILIES. 
 
 We usually associate the idea of extreme whiteness with 
 ne Lily, so that it is common to express a pure white 
 Dy comparison with the flower, as with snow : but Lilies, 
 it is well known, are of almost every variety of colour. 
 
 The Common White Lily has been cultivated in England 
 time immemorial. The stem is usually about three feet 
 high. The flowers, which appear in June and July, are 
 brilliantly white, and glossy on the inside. It is from the 
 east ; and in Japan the blossom is said to be nearly a 
 span in length. 
 
 There are several varieties of the White Lily : as, that, 
 with the flowers striped or blotched with purple ; that with 
 the leaves striped or edged with yellow ; one with double, 
 and one with pendulous flower. 
 
 Catesby's Lily was named in honour of Mr. Catesby 
 who first fouiaL it in South Carolina. This flower, which 
 blows in July and August, and is little more than a foot 
 high, is variously shaded with red, orange, and lemon 
 colours, and has no scent. 
 
 The Orange Li.y, of which there are several varieties 
 of species, has a large and brilliant flower, figured and 
 dotted with black, and very red. 
 
 (»3) 
 
04 LILIES 
 
 The lady Lily, looking gently down. 
 
 The Lily, of all children of the spring 
 The palest — fairest too where fair ones are. 
 
 In virgin beauty blows 
 
 The tender Lily, languishingly sweet. 
 
 Queen of the field, in milk-white mantle drest 
 The lovely Lily waved her curling crest. 
 
 ■ and sweetest to the view, 
 
 The Lily of the vale, whose virgin flower 
 Trembles at every breeze, beneath its leafy bower 
 
 the nice-leaved lesser Lilies, 
 
 Shading, like detected light. 
 
 Their little green-tipt lamps of white. 
 
 L. HUMT. 
 
 No flower amid the garden fairer grows 
 Than the sweet Lily of the lowly vale. 
 The queen of flowers. ' 
 
 Take but the humblest Lily of the field ; 
 And if our pride will to our reason yieM, 
 It must by sure comparison be shown, 
 That on the regal seat great David's son, 
 Array'd in all his robes and types of pow'r. 
 Shines with less glory than that simple flower. 
 
LILIES. as 
 
 TO LILIES. 
 
 VVherk yonder Lilies wanton with the air, 
 And no autumnal blasts have blown to fade, 
 If flow'rs thou seek'st a festive wreath to braid, 
 
 Bend thy search thither, thou wilt find them there.- 
 
 Not in the arches of the forest, where 
 
 The branchmg oaks extend uamoving shade ; 
 
 The earth beyond their twisted roots is bare, 
 
 Save when perchance the hop, with tendrils curl'd, 
 
 Or ivy stringed, may seek and twine around 
 Some stems amidst the forest chiefs that tower: 
 
 !^i), in the mightiest landscapes of the world, 
 The Jlowers of joy and love are seldom found 
 At the stern feet of knowledge or of power. 
 
 1^ THE LILY. 
 
 PEKCIVAL. 
 
 I HAD found out a sweet green spot, 
 Where a Lily was blooming fair ! 
 The din of the city disturb'd it not, 
 But the spirit, that shaded the quiet cot 
 With its wings of love, was there. 
 9* 
 
tf6 LILIES. 
 
 I found that Lily's bloom, 
 When the day was dark and chill : 
 It smiled like a star in the misty gloom 
 \^nd it sent abroad a soft perfume, 
 Which is floating around me still. 
 
 I jsat by the Lily's bell, 
 
 wid watch'd it many a day ; 
 
 The leaves that rose in a flowing s^t■ell, 
 
 Grew faint and dim, then droop'd and fell, 
 
 And the flower had flown away. 
 
 I look'd where the leaves were laid. 
 
 In withering frailness, by. 
 
 And as gloomy thoughts stole on me, said, 
 
 There is many a sweet and blooming maic 
 
 Who will soon as dimly die. 
 
 THE LILY OF THE VALLEY AND THE ANEMONE 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Sweet flower, you fondly strive to hide 
 Your lovely form from public nicw, 
 
 M'hile the gay blossom's eastern pride 
 Appears in every varied hue. 
 
 So will a cultured feeling mind, 
 
 Oft, trembling, shrink from worldly gaze, 
 
 Whilst flippant wit, at ease reclined. 
 Spreads all around its transient rays. 
 
LILIES. 9V 
 
 Yet do I love that modest flower 
 
 Which blossoms in the humble shade, 
 
 And asks not for the sun's bright power, 
 By which this splendid plant's array 'd. 
 
 SONG or THE LILY. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 L' I ithers boast, in their, golden pride, 
 
 Of J aceful form, or roseate bloom — 
 
 Yet 1 le Lily is fairer than all beside, 
 
 That glow in their beauty, or breathe in perfume. 
 
 What, though the bright Rose in her glory essay 
 
 To adorn with her blushes the cheek of the fair ! 
 
 Yet no envied trophy can she bear away 
 
 For the Lily is ever her partner there. — 
 
 No triumph I fear from such rivals as these, 
 
 While gaily I wave my white bells to the breeze. 
 
 If the emblem of innocence homage commands, 
 
 Then what greater claim can the Lily desire? 
 
 For who will deny it — while radiant she stands, 
 
 Like the bright form of beauty, in bridal attire 1 
 
 But I seek not the triumph of beauty alone — 
 
 Though the Rose may be foster'd 'neath Britaih s proud 
 
 glance, 
 [ shall still be her rival in glory's bright throne ; 
 For who shall dare challenge the Lily of France? 
 While 1 can exult in such honours as these, 
 How proudly I '11 wave my white bells in the breeze ! 
 
98 iALlHS. 
 
 THE WATER-LILY. 
 
 MRS. HEMANS. 
 
 Oh, beautiful thou art, 
 Thou sculpture-like and stately River-queen I 
 Crowning the depths, as with the light serene 
 
 Of a pure heart. 
 
 Bright Lily of the wave ! 
 Rising in fearless grace with every swell, 
 Thou seem'st as if a spirit meekly brave 
 
 Dwelt in thy cell : 
 
 Lifting alike thy head, 
 Of placid beauty, feminine yet free, 
 Whether with foam or pictured azure spread 
 
 The waters be. 
 
 What is like thee, fair flower, 
 The gentle and the firm? thus bearing up 
 To the blue sky that alabaster cup. 
 
 As to the shower? 
 
 Oh ! Love is most like thee, 
 The love of Woman ; quivering to the blast 
 Through every nerve, yet rooted deep and fas! 
 
 'Midst Life's dark sea. 
 
LILIES. 09 
 
 And Faith — oh! is not Faith 
 Like thee, too, Lily? springing into Hght, 
 Still buoyantly, above the billows' might, 
 
 Through the storm's breath? 
 
 Yes, link'd with such high thoughts, 
 Flower, let thine image in my bosom lie! 
 Till something there of its own purity 
 
 And peace be wrought. 
 
 Something yet more divine 
 Than the clear, pearly, virgin lustre shed 
 Forth' from thy breast upon the river's bea. 
 
 As from a ahrioe. 
 
THE TULIP. 
 
 T. HIS gay flower having been obtained from tne Turks, 
 
 was called Tulipa, from the resemblance of its corolla to 
 
 the eastern head-dress called Tulipan or Turban, and hence 
 
 our name of Tulip. To this resemblance Moore alludes in 
 
 the following lines : — 
 
 " What triumph crowds the rich Divan to-day 
 With turban'd heads of every hue and race, 
 Bowing before that veil'd and awful face, 
 Like Tulip-heds of different shape and dyes. 
 Bending beneath th' invisible west wind's sighs?" 
 
 The Garden Tulip is a native of the Levant ; Linnteus 
 says, of Cappadocia. It is very common in Syria, and is 
 supposed by some persons, to be the Lily of the Field alluded 
 to by Jesus Christ. It is said to have been introduced into 
 England about the year 1580 ; for Hakluyt thus writes m 
 1582, "now within these four years there have been brought 
 in England, from Vienna in Austria, divers kinds of flowers 
 called Tulipas.' 
 
 The Tulip, whose red veins 
 Are flush'd with deeper, warmer stains. 
 Glows in each leaf with more than Nimrod's fires. 
 
 Anon. 
 Down the Tulipas moisten'd cheek. 
 Spread with Nature's warmest bloom, 
 
 Sparkling drops of dew distil. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 (100) 
 
ruLiP. 101 
 
 I 
 Then comes the Tulip raiie, where beauty plays 
 
 Her idle freaks : from family diffused 
 
 To family, as flies the father dust, 
 
 The varied colours run; and while they break 
 
 On the charm'd eye, th' exulting florist marks, 
 
 With secret pride, the wonders of his hand. 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 THE TULIP. 
 
 Who thus, O Tulip! thy gay-painted' fereast 
 
 In all the colours of the sun has drest ? 
 
 Wei! could I call thee, in thy gaudy pride. 
 
 The Queen of flow'rs ; but blooming by thy side 
 
 Her thousand leaves that beams of love adorn> 
 
 Her tnrone surrounded by protecting thorn, 
 
 And smell eternal, form a juster claim, 
 
 Which gives the heaven-born Rose the lofty name, 
 
 Who, having slept throughout the wintry storm, 
 
 Now through the op'ning buds displays her smiling form 
 
 SONG OF THE TULIP. 
 
 HOLIAND. 
 
 How vain are the struggles for conquest and power. 
 
 With golden bud and scented flower. 
 
 Who claim, from their beauty or fragrance alone, 
 
 Their right to ascend the garden throne! — 
 
 A graceful form may please the sight. 
 
 And fragrant odour the senses delight ; 
 
103 TULIP 
 
 yet, if we are judged by our merit, I ween 
 
 The Tulip will soon be the Garden Queen. — 
 
 No envy I fear, nor of beauty the frown, 
 
 While the worth of the Tulip can purchase the crown. 
 
 How can the vain Rose ever hope to claim. 
 
 By the verse of the poet, the bright meed of fame 7 
 
 Or the pale-featured Lily pretend to enhance 
 
 Her right, as the flower most favour'd of France ? 
 
 No favours I boast, though in beauty I shine. 
 
 And variety's garb, ever charming, is mine ; 
 
 But my triumph I rest upon merit alone. 
 
 For worth is e'er valued when beauty is flown, 
 
 Then why should I fear either anger or frown, 
 
 While the worth of the Tulio will merit the crowal 
 
THE HOSE 
 
 The different kinds of Roses are quite numerous ; and 
 botanists find it very difficult to determine with accjracy 
 which are species and which are varieties. On this account, 
 Linnaeus, and some other eminent authors, are inclined to 
 think that there is only one real species of Rose, which is 
 the Rosa Canina, or Dog-rose of the hedges, &c., and that 
 all the other sorts &re accidental varieties of it. However 
 according to the Linnsean arrangement, they stand divided 
 into fourteen species, each comprehending varieties, which 
 in some sorts are but few, in others numerous. 
 
 Poetry is lavish of Roses : it heaps them into beds, weaves 
 them into crowns, twines them into arbours, forges them 
 into chains, and plants them in the bosom of beauty. It not 
 only delights to bring in the Rose itself upon every occasion, 
 but seizes each particular beauty it possesses as an object 
 of comparison with the loveliest works of Nature ; — as soft 
 as a Rose leaf; as sweet as a Rose; Rosy Clouds; «fec. &c 
 
 The eastern poets have united the Rose with the nightin- 
 gale — the Venus of Flowers with the Apollo of birds. — 
 The Rose is supposed to burst forth from its bud at the song 
 »f the nightingale. 
 
 ( SAW the sweetest ftewer wild Nature yields, 
 k fresh-blown Musk Rose. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 10 'i*) 
 
104 ROSE. 
 
 A bed of Lilies flower upon her cheek, 
 And in the midst was set a circling Rose. 
 
 p. FLETCHEK. 
 
 Its velvet lips the bashful Rose began 
 To show, and catch the kisses of the sun : 
 Some fuller blown, their crimson honours shed ; 
 Sweet smelt the golden chives that graced their head 
 
 FAWKES. 
 
 The lady Lily, paler than the moon. 
 And Roses, laden with the breath of June. 
 
 BARKY CORNWALL. 
 
 There was the pouting Rose, both red and white. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 And first of all the Rose; because its breath 
 Is rich beyond the rest ; and when it dies 
 It doth bequeath a charm to sweeten death. 
 
 BARRY COUNWALt. 
 
 And thou, most lovely Rose, 
 
 Of tint most delicate, 
 
 Fair consort of the morn ; 
 
 Delighted to imbibe 
 
 The genial dew of heaven. 
 
 Rich vegetation's vermeil-tinctured gem 
 
 April's enchanting herald, 
 
 Thou flower supremely blest, 
 
 And queen of all the flowers, 
 
 Thou formest around my locks 
 
ROSE. 106 
 
 A garland of such fragrance, 
 That up to heaven itself 
 Thy balmy sweets ascend. 
 
 ANDEEIN's ' ADAM.' 
 
 His queen, the garden-queen, — his Rose, 
 Unbent by winds, unchill'd by snows. 
 Far from the winters of the west, 
 liy every breeze and season blest. 
 Returns the sweets by Nature given 
 In softest incense back to heaven. 
 And grateful yields that smiling sky 
 Her fairest hue and fragrant sigh. 
 
 LOHD BYEON. 
 
 Look as the flower which lingeringly doth fade, 
 The morning's darling mate, the Summer's queen. 
 Spoil 'd of that juice which kept it fresh and greei. 
 As high as it did raise, bows low the head. 
 
 DRTrM3I0>''.> 
 
 A SINGLE Rose is shedding there 
 
 Its lonely lustre, meek and pale: 
 It looks as planted by despair — 
 
 So white, so faint, the slightest gale 
 Might whirl the leaves on high ; 
 
 And yet, though storms and blasts assail. 
 And hands more rude than wintry sky. 
 
 May wring it from the stem in vain — 
 
 To-morrow sees it bloom again ' 
 
106 ROSE. 
 
 The stalk some sj irit quickly rears, 
 And waters with celestial tears ; 
 
 For well may maids of Helle deem 
 That this can be no earthly flower, 
 Which mocks the tempest's withering hour. 
 And buds unshelter'd by a bower ; 
 Nor droops though Spring refuse her shower, 
 
 Nor wooes the Summer beam : 
 To it the livelong night there sings 
 A bird unseen, but not remote ; 
 Invisible his airy wings, 
 But soft as harp that Houri strings, 
 His lone eniiancing note. 
 
 BRIDE OP ABYDOfti 
 
 Yonder is a girl who lingers 
 
 Where wild honeysuckle grows. 
 
 Mingling with the Briar-rose ; 
 
 And with eager outstretch'd fingers. 
 
 Tip-toe standing, vainly tries 
 
 To reach the heJge-enveloped prize. 
 
 H. SMITH. 
 
 Wound in the hedge-rows' oaken boughs 
 The woodbine's tassels float in air. 
 And, blushing, the uncultured Rose 
 Hangs high her beauteous blossoms there. 
 
 SMITH 
 
ROSE. 107 
 
 INVITATION TO A ROSE. 
 
 SMITH. 
 
 Queen of fragrance, lovely Rose, 
 
 The beauties of thy leaves disclose ! 
 
 Tlie winter's past, the tempests fly, 
 
 Soft gales breathe gently through the sky ; 
 
 The lark, sweet warbling on the wing, 
 
 Salutes the gay return of Spring ; 
 
 The silver dews, the vernal showers. 
 
 Call forth a bloomy waste of flowers ; 
 
 The joyous fields, the shady woods. 
 
 Are clothed with green, or swell'd with buas. 
 
 Then haste thy beauties to disclose, 
 
 Queen of fragrance, lovely Rose ! 
 
 The same. — anon. 
 Nursed by the zephyr's balmy sigh, 
 
 And cherish'd by the tears of morn ; 
 Oh, queen of flowers ! awake ! arise ! 
 
 Oh haste, delicious Rose, be born ! 
 
 Unheeding wish! no — yet awhile, 
 Be yet awhile thy dawn delay'd ; 
 
 Since the samp- hour that sees thee smile 
 In orient bloom, shall see thee fade. 
 
 The same. — bo%vring. 
 Rose of the morning, in thy glowing beauty, 
 Bright as the stars, and delicate and lovely, 
 
 10* 
 
108 ROSE. 
 
 Lift up thy head above thy earthly dwelling, 
 Daughter of heaven ! 
 
 Wake I for the watery clouds are all dispersing ! 
 Zephyr invites thee : frosts and snows of winter 
 All are departed ; and Favonian breezes 
 Welcome thee, smiling. 
 
 ON AN EARLY ROSE, 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Sweet Rose, whom early showers 
 Have kindly, fondly nurst : 
 
 I love thy leaves of red, 
 
 For from fair Flora's bed 
 
 Thou lift'st thy modest head, 
 Sweet Rose — the First. 
 
 What spell is in that word. 
 
 The First ! the primal one s 
 
 Oh ! wherefore lovea to stray 
 
 The mind to pleasure's day, 
 
 And count in life's pathway 
 
 The sweets that shone ! 
 
 Is it because of joys 
 
 Long since like dreams are fled, 
 Though each had rapture in it. 
 None had that charm within it. 
 As when that First — First minute. 
 
 Their sweets were shed? 
 
ROSE 109 
 
 THE MOSS ROSE. 
 
 FROM THE GERMAN. 
 
 The Angel of the flowers, one day, 
 
 Beneath a Rose-tree sleeping lay — 
 
 That spirit to whom charge is given 
 
 To bathe young buds in dews of heaveui 
 
 Awaking from his light repose. 
 
 The Angel whisper'd to the Rose: 
 
 " O fondest object of my care, 
 
 " Still fairest found where all are fair, 
 
 " For the sweet shade thou giv'st to me ; 
 
 " Ask what thou wilt, 't is granted thee ! " 
 
 "Then," said the Rose, with deepen'd glow, 
 " On me another grace bestow ! " — 
 The spirit paused in silent thought, — 
 What grace was there that flower had not? 
 'Twas but a moment — o'er the Rose 
 A veil of moss the angel throws ; 
 And, robed in Nature's simplest weed, 
 Could there a flower that Rose exceed? 
 
 THE WILD ROSE. 
 
 MIILHOUSE. 
 
 Oh! there's a wild Rose in yon rugged dell, 
 
 Fragrant as that which blooms the garden's pride' 
 
 And there's a sympathy ho tongue can tell, 
 Breathed from the linnet chanting by its side : 
 
llO ROSE 
 
 And there is music in that whispering rill, 
 
 Far more delightsome than the ragir.g main; 
 And more of beauty on yon verdant hill, 
 
 Than to the grandest palace can pertain : 
 For there is nought so lovely and serene, 
 
 Throughout the chambers of the mightiest king, 
 As the pure calm that rests upon this scene, 
 
 'Mid sporting lambkins and the songs of spring ; 
 Yet oft, attracted by some dazzling show, 
 
 Man flies from peace, pursuing gilded woo. 
 
 THE FADING ROSE. 
 
 C. J. FOX. 
 
 The Rose, the sweetly-blooming Rose, 
 
 F.re from the tree it 's torn, 
 Is like the charms which Beauty shows, 
 
 In life's exulting morn. 
 
 But. oh I how soon its sweets are gone. 
 
 How soon it withering lies I 
 So when the eve of life comes on. 
 
 Sweet Beauty fades and dies. 
 
 Then, since the fairest form that 's ma6^ 
 Soon withering we shall find 
 
 Let us possess what ne'er will fade-, — 
 The beauties of the Mind. 
 
KOSC. Ill 
 
 THE EVERLASTING ROSE. 
 
 ANSTEK. 
 
 Hail to thy hues ! thou lovely flower ; 
 
 Still shed around thy soft perfume, 
 Still smile amid the wintry hour, 
 
 And boast even now a spring-tide bloom. 
 
 Thine is, methinks, a pleasing dream, 
 
 Lone lingerer in the icy vale, 
 Of smiles that hail'd the morning beam. 
 
 And sighs more sweet for evening's gale 
 
 Still are thy green leaves whispering 
 
 Low sounds to fancy's ear, that tell 
 Of mornings, when the wild bee's wing 
 
 Shook dew-drops from thy sparkling cell ! 
 
 In April's bower thy sweets are breathed, 
 And June beholds thy blossoms fair ; 
 
 In Autumn's chaplet thou art wreathed. 
 And round December's forehead bare. 
 
 With thee the graceful Lily vied. 
 As Summer breezes waved her head. 
 
 And now the Snow-drop at thy side 
 Meekly contrasts thy cheerful red. 
 
 'Tis thine to hear each varying voice, 
 That marks the seasons sad or gay. 
 
 The summer thrush bids thee rejoice 
 And wintry robin's dearer lay. 
 
112 ROSE 
 
 Sweet flower ! how happy dost thou seem 
 'Mid parching heat, 'mid nipping froax,— 
 
 While gathering beauty from each beam, 
 No hue, no grace of thine is lost! 
 
 Thus Hope, 'mid life's severest days, 
 Still smiles, still triumphs o'er despair ; 
 
 Alike she lives in Pleasure's rays. 
 And cold Affliction's winter air. 
 
 Charmer alike in lordly bower. 
 
 And in the hermit's cell, she glows ; 
 
 The Poet's and the Lover's flower, 
 The bosom's Everlasting Rose ! 
 
 SHARON'S ROSE. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Go, Warrior, pluck the laurel bough, 
 And bind it round thy reeking brow ; 
 Ye sons of pleasure 1 blithely twine 
 A chaplet of the purple vine ; 
 And Beauty cull each blushing flower 
 That ever deck'd the sylvan bower ; 
 No wreath is bright, no garland fair. 
 Unless sweet Sharon's Rose be there. 
 
 The laurel branch will droop and die, 
 •The vine its purple fruit deny, 
 The wreath that smiling beauty twined 
 Will leave no lingering bud behind ; 
 
ROSE. 113 
 
 For beauty's wreath, and beauty's bloom, 
 In vain would shun the withering tomb, 
 Where nought is bright and nought is fair, 
 Unless sweet Sharon's Rose be there. 
 
 Bright blossom ! of immortal bloom. 
 Of fadeless hue, and sweet perfume, 
 Far in the desert's dreary waste 
 In lone neglected beauty placed, — 
 Let others seek the blushing bower, 
 And cull the frail and fading flower, 
 But I '11 to dreariest wilds repair, 
 If Sharon's deathless Rose be there. 
 
 When Nature's hand with cunning caie. 
 No more the opening bud shall rear, 
 But, hurl'd by heaven's avenging Sire, 
 Descends the earth-consuming fire. 
 And desolation's hurrying blast. 
 O'er all the sadden'd scene has past, 
 There is a clime for ever fair, 
 And Sharon's Rose shall flourish lhP7& 
 
 11 
 
THE WALL-FLOWER. 
 
 The common Wall-flower is a native of the South of Eu 
 rope, and is found wild in Switzerland, France, and Spain , 
 and we may infer, that it was one of the earliest flowers 
 which was cultivated in gardens, from its being so con- 
 stantly found on the ruins of old buildings. 
 
 The Wall-flowers which grow out of the crevices of old 
 buildings are of a much hardier nature than those of the 
 garden ; for as they can receive but little moisture by the 
 fibres of their roots, their stem becomes firm and woody, 
 and able to bear the frost without mjury, whereas those cul- 
 tivated in the garden become succulent, and consequently 
 more susceptible of cold. The two principal varieties of the 
 Wall-flower are the yellow, and the red or bloody. 
 
 The rude stone fence, with Wall-flowers gay, 
 
 To me more pleasure yield 
 
 Than ail the pomp imperial domes display. 
 
 SCOTT. 
 
 And well the lonely infant Knew 
 
 Recesses where the Wall-flower grew. 
 
 And honey-suckle loved to crawl. 
 
 Up the low crag and ruin'd wall. 
 
 I deem'd such nooks the sweetest shade 
 
 The sun in all his round survey'd ; 
 
 (iij) 
 
WALL-FLOWER. 1.6 
 
 And still I thought that shatter'd tower 
 The mightiest work of human power. 
 
 SCOTT. 
 
 TO THE WALL-FLOWER. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 I WILL not praise the often-flatter'd Rose 
 
 Or virgin-like, with blushing charms half seen, 
 
 Or when in dazzling splendour, like a queen, 
 All her magnificence of state she shows ; 
 No, nor that nun-like Lily, which but blows 
 
 Beneath the valley's cool and shady screen ; 
 
 Nor yet the Sun-flower, that with warrior mien, 
 Still eyes the orb of glory where it glows ; — 
 But thou, neglected Wall-flower, to my breast 
 
 And muse art dearest, wildest, sweetest flower. 
 To whom alone the privilege is given 
 
 Proudly to root thyself above the rest 
 , As genius does, and, from thy rocky tower, 
 
 Send fragrance to the purest breath of heaven 
 
 THjt WALL-FLOWER. 
 
 « 
 
 DELTA. 
 
 The Wall-flower — the Wall-flower, 
 How beautiful it blooms 1 
 It gleams above the ruin'd tower, 
 Like sun-light over tombs ; 
 
n I WALL-FLoWER. 
 
 It sheds a halo of repose 
 
 Around the wrecks of Time : 
 
 To beauty give the flaunting Rose, — - 
 
 The Wall-flower is sublime. 
 
 Flower of the solitary place ! 
 Grey Ruin's golden crown ! 
 That lendest melancholy grace 
 To haunts of old renown : 
 Thou manliest o'er the battlement, 
 By strife or storm decay'd f 
 And fillest up each envious rent 
 Time's canker-tooth hath made. 
 
 Thy roots outspread the ramparts o'er 
 
 Where, in war's stormy day, 
 The Douglases stood forth of yore 
 
 In battle's grim array : 
 The clangour of the field is fled, 
 
 The beacon on the hill 
 No more through midniglit blazes red -— 
 
 But thou art blooming still ! 
 
 Whither hath fled the choral band 
 
 That fill'd the abbey's nave? 
 Yon dark sepulchral yew trees^stand 
 
 O'er many a level grave : 
 In the belfry's crevices the dove 
 
 Her young brood nurseth well, 
 Whilst thou, lone flower, dost shed abo>tf 
 
 A sweet decaying smell. 
 
WALL-FLOWER. Ill 
 
 In the season of the Tulip-cup, 
 
 When blossoms clothe the trees, 
 How sweet to throw the lattice up. 
 
 And scent thee on the breeze : 
 The butterfly is then abroad, 
 
 The bee is on the wing, 
 And on the hawthorn by the road 
 
 The linnets sit and sins. 
 
 o 
 
 Sweet Wall-flower, sweet Wall-flower! 
 
 Thou conjurest up to me 
 Full many a soft and sunny hour 
 
 Of boyhood's thoughtless glee. 
 When joy from out the daisies grew, 
 
 In woodland pastures green, 
 And summer skies were far more blue 
 
 Than since they e'er have been. 
 
 Now Autumn's pensive voice is heard 
 
 Amid the yellow bowers, 
 The robin is the regal bird, 
 
 And thou the Queen of Flowers ! 
 He sings on the laburnum trees. 
 
 Amid the twilight dim, 
 And Araby ne'er gave the breeze 
 
 Such scenes as thou to him. 
 
 Rich is the Pink, the Lily gay. 
 
 The Rose is Summer's guest; 
 Bland are the charms when these decay 
 
 Of flowers first, last, and best ! 
 11* 
 
118 WALLFLOWER 
 
 There may be gaudier on the bower, 
 
 And statelier on the tree, 
 But Wall-flower, loved Wall-flower, 
 
 Thou art the flower for me. 
 
 The same. — townsend. 
 
 The Rose and Lily blossom fair. 
 But all unmeet for Sorrow's child ; 
 
 They deck the bower and gay parterre. 
 As if for Mirth alone they smiled. 
 
 The Cowslip nods upon the lea ; 
 
 And, where wild wreaths the green lanes dreM, 
 The Woodbine blooms, but not for me. 
 
 For these are haunts of Happiness. 
 
 I will not seek the mossy bed, 
 
 Where Violets court soft vernal showers, 
 
 For Quiet there reclines her head, 
 And Innocence is gathering flowers. 
 
 The Wall-flower only shall be mine • 
 
 Its simple faith is dear to me • 
 To roofless tower, and prostrate shrine, 
 
 It clings with patient constancy 
 
 And, prodigal of love, blooms on, 
 Though all unseen its beauties die, 
 
 And, though for desert gales alone. 
 Breathes fragrance rich as Araby. 
 
WALL-FLOrt^ER. 119 
 
 Oh, ihere appears a generous scorn 
 
 Of all requital in its choice! 
 The thousand flowers that eaith adurn, 
 
 In earth's exuberant stores rejoice. 
 
 It only asks the freshening dew, 
 
 Imparting all where nought is given — 
 
 Raised above earth, as if it drew 
 Its only nutrimerit from heaven. 
 
THE HYACINTH, OR HAREBELL. 
 
 The common, or Wood Hyacinlh, is a native of Pei 
 sia, and of many parts of Europe. In the spring it abounds 
 in our woods, hedges, &c. ; and on this account the old 
 botanists have given it the name of the English Hyacinth. 
 The botanic designation of Hyacintus non-scriptus is ap- 
 plied to it because it has not the Ai on the petals, and 
 .herefore is not the poetical Hyacinth. 
 
 The Flarebell, for her stainless, azure hue, 
 Claims to be \wrn by none but those are true. 
 
 Blue-bell ! how gaily art thou drest, 
 
 How neat and trim art thou, sweet flower , 
 
 How silky is thy azure vest. 
 
 How fresh to flaunt at morning's hour I 
 
 Could'st thou but think, I well might say 
 
 Thou art as proud in rich array 
 
 As lady, blithesome, young, and vain, 
 
 Prank'd up with folly and disdain, 
 
 Vaunting her power. 
 
 Sweet flower ! 
 
 MRS. BOBINSON. 
 
 n9B> 
 
HAREBELL. 121 
 
 Tlie same. — anon. 
 
 Sweet Flower! though many a ruthless storm 
 Sweep fiercely o'er thy slender form, 
 
 And many a sturdier plant may bow 
 In death beneath the tempest's blow, 
 Submissive thou, in pensive guise. 
 Uninjured by each gale, shalt rise. 
 And deck'd with innocence remain 
 The fairest tenant of the plain : 
 So, conscious of its lowly state, 
 Trembles the heart asgail'd by fate, 
 Yet, when the fleeting blast is o'er, . 
 Settles as transient as before ; 
 While the proud breast no peace shall find. 
 No refuge for a troubled mind. 
 
 THE HAREBELL AND THE FOX-GLOVE. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 A a valley obscure, on a bank of green shade, 
 A sweet little Harebell her dwelling had made ; 
 Her roof was a Woodbine, that tastefully spread 
 Its close-woven tendrils, o'erarching her head : 
 Her bed was of moss, that each morning made new ; 
 She dined on a sunbeam and supp'd on the dew : 
 Her neighbour, the nightingale, sung her to rest; 
 .\nd care had ne'er planted a thorn in her breast. 
 
122 HAKE BELL. 
 
 One morning she saw, on the opposite side, 
 
 A Fox-glove displaying his colours of pride : 
 
 She gazed on his form, that in stateliness grew, 
 
 And envied his height, and his brilliant hue ; 
 
 She mark'd how the flow'rets all gave way before him, 
 
 While they press'd round her dwelling with far lesa 
 
 decorum : 
 Dissatisfied, jealous, and peevish she grows. 
 And the sight of this Fox-glove destroys her repose. 
 
 She tires of her vesture, and, swelling with spleen. 
 Cries " Ne'er such a dowdy blue mantle was seen '" 
 Nor keeps to herself any longer her pain. 
 But thus to a primrose begins to complain : 
 " I envy your mood, that can patient abide, 
 ' The respect paid that Fox-glove, his airs, and his pride : 
 " There you sit, still the same, with your colourless cheek ; 
 " But you have no spirit — would I were as meek !" 
 
 The Primrose, good-humour'd, replied, " If you knew 
 "More about him — (remember I'm older than you, 
 " And, better instructed, can tell you his tale) 
 " You 'd envy him least of all flowers in the vale : 
 " ^^'ith all his fine airs and his dazzling show, 
 " No blossom more baneful and odious can blow ; 
 " And the reason that flow'rets before him give way 
 " Is because they all hate him and shrink from his sway 
 
 " To stay near him long would be fading or death, 
 " For he scatters a pest with his venomous breath ; 
 
HAREBELL 1SJ8 
 
 " While the flowers that you fancy are crowding you there 
 •'Spring round you, delighted your converaeife share: 
 " His flame-colour'd robe is imposing, 't is true ; 
 " Yet, who lilies it so well as your mantle of blue ! 
 " For we l^now that of innocence one is the vest ; 
 " The other the cloak of a treacherous breast. 
 
 " I see your surprise — but I know him full weii, 
 " And have number'd his victims, as fading they fell s 
 " He blighted twin Violets that under him lay, 
 " And poison'd a sister of mine the same day I" 
 The Primrose was silent — The Harebell, 't is said, 
 Inclined for a moment her beautiful head ; 
 But quickly recovered her spirits, and then 
 Declared that she r,-s'er should feel envy agaia. 
 
f 
 
 THE CEREUS. 
 
 The night-flowering Cereus (Cactus grandi-florus,) is one 
 of our most splendid hot-house plants, and is a native of Ja- 
 maica and some other of the West India Islands. Its stem 
 is creeping, and thickly set with spines. The flower is white 
 and very large, sometimes nearly a foot in diameter. Its 
 petals are of a pure and dazzling white; and a vast number 
 of recurved stamens, surrounding the style in the centre, add 
 to its beauty. The fine scent of this extraordinary flower 
 perfumes the air to a considerable distance ; but the most 
 remarkable circumstance with regard to it, is the short time 
 which it takes to expand, and the rapidity with which it de- 
 cays. Upon large plants, eight or ten flowers will open on 
 the same night, making a most magnificent appearance by 
 candlelight, bloom for an hour or more, then begin to droop, 
 and before morning be completely dead. This pi? it does 
 not bear fruit in this country, and must be nursed it; i stove 
 to enable it to produce flowers. 
 
 THE NIGHT. BLOWING CEREUS 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Can it be true ? so fragrant and so fair ! 
 To give thy perfume to the dews of night? 
 Can aught so beautiful shrink from the glare, 
 And fade and sicken in the coming light? 
 
 cm) 
 
CERETJS. 125 
 
 Yes, peerless flower ! the heavens alone exnale 
 Thy fragrance, while the glittering stars attest ; 
 And incense, wafted from the midnight gale, 
 Untainted rises from thy spotless breast. 
 Sweet emblem of that faith, which seeks, apart 
 From human praise, to love and work unseen ; 
 That gives to Heaven an undivided heart — 
 In sorrow steadfast, and in joy serene ! 
 Anchor'd on God, no adverse cloud can dim; 
 Her eye, unalter'd, still is fix'd on Himi 
 
 TO THE NIGHT-BLOWING CERETJB. 
 
 H. I. JOHNS. 
 
 Flower of the Night ! mysteriously awake 
 When Earth's green tribes repose, why stealthful thus 
 Comest thou to meet the stars — unfolding soft. 
 Beneath their tranquil ray, thy peerless form ? 
 Flower of the night! chaster than Alpine snows — 
 Unvisited by aught save Heaven's sweet breath — 
 Why hide thy loveliness from mortal eye, 
 Why pour thy fragrance to the unconscious night? 
 — Thou art, alas! too exquisitelji fair. 
 Too pure for Earth's corrupted denizens ! 
 Yet not in vain thy odoriferous breath. 
 And beauty all unearthly: He who thus 
 Hath fashion'd thee a chaste and midnight gem; 
 12 
 
126 CEREU5. 
 
 Who stamp'd thee with the lineaments of grace, 
 
 But veil'd thy birth and short-lived bloom in darkness 
 
 Some end beneficent design'd, though far 
 
 Beyond or human ken or comprehension ! — 
 
 Earth's lowliest herb is eloquent of Him, 
 
 The Great Supreme I and thou, mysterious flower 
 
 Fair glory of the night ! might Fancy give 
 
 Thy voice interpretation, couldst unfold 
 
 Why form'd so fair, and why ordain'd to s(»!nd 
 
 Thy sweets nectareous in nocturnal gloom. 
 
THE CELANDINE, 
 
 The name of this plant is derived frora the Gieek, and 
 signifies a swallow. It is not so named, as some have sup- 
 posed, from its coming and going with the swallow ; but, 
 according to Gerard, 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. For the 
 same reason, it is also called Swallow-wort. 
 
 TO THE SMALL CELANDINE. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Pansies, Lilies, Kingcups, Daisies, 
 Let them live upon their praises ; 
 Long as there 's a sun that sets. 
 Primroses will have their glory i 
 Long as there are Violets, 
 They will have a place :a story ; 
 There 's a flower that shall be mine, 
 'Tis the little Celandine. 
 
 Eyes of some men travel far 
 For the finding of a star ; 
 Up and down the heavens they go, 
 Men that keep a mighty rout ! 
 I 'm as great as they, I trow, 
 Since the day I found thee out : 
 
128 CELANDINE. 
 
 Little flower ! — I '11 make a stir, 
 Like a great Astronomer. 
 
 Modest, yet withal an elf, 
 Bold, and lavish of thyself; 
 Since we needs must first have raes, 
 I have seen thee high and low. 
 Thirty years or more, and yet 
 'Twas a face I did not know; 
 Thou hast now, go where I may, 
 Fifty greetings la a day. 
 
 Ere a leaf is on a bush. 
 In the time before the thrush 
 Has a thought about its nest, 
 Thou wilt come with half a call. 
 Spreading oui thy glossy breast 
 Like a careless prodigal ; 
 Telling tales about the sun, 
 When we 've little warmth or none. 
 
 Poets, vain men in their mood • 
 Travel with the multitude : 
 Never heed them ; I aver, 
 Tliat they all are wanton wooers ; 
 But the thrifty cottager. 
 Who stirs little out of doors, 
 Joys to spy thee near her home — 
 Soring is coming, thou art come ' 
 
CELANDINE. 129 
 
 Comfort have thou of thy merit, 
 Kindly, unassuming spirit ! 
 Careless of thy neighbourhood. 
 Thou dost show thy pleasant face 
 On the moor, and in the wood. 
 In the lane — there 's not a place, 
 Howsoever mean it be, 
 But 'tis good enough for thee. 
 
 Ill befall the yellow flowers, 
 Children of the flaring hours ! 
 Buttercups, that will be seen. 
 Whether we will see or no; 
 Others, too, of lofly mien : 
 They have done as worldlings do, 
 Taken praise that should be thine. 
 Little, humble Celandine ! 
 
 Prophet of delight and mirth 
 Scorn'd and slighted upon earth I 
 Herald of a mighty band. 
 Of a joyous train ensuing, 
 Singing at my heart's command, 
 In the lanes my thoughts pursuing, 
 i will sing, as doth behove, 
 Hymns in praise of what I love ! 
 
 12* 
 
THE ORCHIS. 
 
 The Greeks named this plait Orchis, from the form 
 of the roots in many of the species ; and this appellation 
 is now generally adopted in most of the European lan- 
 guages. In addition to the Greek name, the Latins often 
 call it Satyrion, because the early Romans believed it to 
 be the food of the Satyrs, and that it excited them to 
 .he excesses which in fabulous history are ascribed to 
 them. Its old English names are Standlewort and King- 
 fingers. 
 
 In consequence either of a want of taste in floriculture, 
 or of a foolish predilection for an lent prejudices, this 
 oeautiful flower has been excluded from the parterre of 
 Flora ; but so anxious have been the Botanists to collecf' 
 its different species from all quarters of the world, tha 
 from their exertions we now possess upwards of eighty 
 distinct species, besides numerous varieties of several if 
 the kinds. 
 
 THE BEE ORCHIS. 
 
 R. SNOW, ESQ. 
 
 See, Delia, see this image bright I 
 Why starts my fair one at the sight? 
 
 asoj 
 
ORCHIS. "31 
 
 It mounts not on obtrusive wing, 
 
 Nor threats thy breast with angrj sting: 
 
 Admire, as close the insect lies, 
 
 Its thin-wrought plume and honey'd thighs : 
 
 Whilst on this flow'ret's velvet breast. 
 
 It seems as though 'twere lull'd to rest, 
 
 Nor might its fairy wings unfold, 
 
 Enchain'd in aromatic gold. 
 
 Think not to set the captive free — 
 
 'Tis but the picture of a bee. 
 
 Yet wonder not that Nature's power 
 Should paint an insect in a flower; 
 And stoop to means that bear in part 
 Resemblance to imperfect art — 
 Nature, who could that form inspire 
 With strength and swiftness, life and fire, 
 And bid it search each spicy vale 
 Where flowers their fragrant souls exhale; 
 And, labouring for the parent hive. 
 With murmurs make the wild alive. 
 
 For when in Parian stone we trace 
 Some best-remember'd form or face; 
 Or see on radiant canvass rise 
 An imitative Paradise ; 
 And feel the warm affections glow, 
 Pleased at the pencil's mimic show ; 
 
13'J ORvHlS 
 
 'Tis but obedience to the plan 
 From Nature's birth proposed to Man; 
 Who, lest her choicest sweets in vaiu 
 Should blossom for our thankless train , 
 Lest beauty pass unheeded by 
 Like cloud upon the summer sky ; 
 Lest mem'ry of the brave and just 
 Should sleep with them consign'd to dual : 
 With leading hand th' expedient proves. 
 And paints for us thp form she loves. 
 
THE ANEMONE. 
 
 Anemone is derived from the Greek anemos, wind, as 
 Gerard says, after Pliny, because ' the flower doth never 
 open itself but when the wind doth blow.' As this is not 
 quite correct, at least with the Anemone of our day, the 
 appellation is supposed to have arisen from the plant 
 flourishing in exposed and windy situations. 
 
 The ancient fabulists ascribe to this flower a very high 
 birth. They tell us that Venus, in her grief for the death 
 of Adonis, mingled her tears with his blood, and that 
 thence sprung the first Anemone. 
 
 The Anemones are natives of the East, whence their 
 loots were originally brought; but they have been so 
 much improved by culture, as to take a high rank among 
 the ornaments of our gardens in the spring. 
 
 See ! yon Anemones their leaves unfold. 
 With rabies flaming, and with living gold. 
 
 Then, thickly strewn in woodland bowers, 
 Anemones their Stars unfold. 
 
 ANOW. 
 (133) 
 
134 ANEMONE. 
 
 youth, like a thin Anemone, displays 
 His silken leaf, and in a morn decays. 
 
 And then I gather'd rushes, and began 
 To weave a garland for you, intertwined 
 With Violets, Hepaticas, Primroses, 
 And coy Anemone, that ne'er uncloses 
 Her lips until they're blown on by tne wind. 
 
 AMARYNTHU*. 
 
 TO THE WOOD. ANEMONE. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Welcome ! though cold the hour, 
 
 Anemone ! 
 And shelterless the hazel be; 
 Yet Spring shall form the greener bower. 
 And sunshine bring, and warmer shower, 
 To foster thee. 
 
 Where hast thou been since last 
 
 The wanton air 
 Was roving through thy chambers fair T 
 Did elfin troop then close them fast. 
 And have the while, in revels past, 
 
 Pavilioned there 7 
 
 Or hast thou been in quest 
 
 Of Summer spoi 
 
ANEMONE. l35 
 
 To dwell upon, yet found it not? 
 Or here to strip thy beauteous vest, 
 And lay thee down like death to rest. 
 
 Hath been thy lot' 
 
 V/elcome ! for drear the gale 
 
 Has been to me, 
 And all the flow^'rets wither'd be 
 Young life had rear'd in sun and shade, 
 They spring no more, though they do fade 
 
 And die like thee. 
 
 Yet though this be the doom 
 
 . Of earthly flower, 
 
 And earthly hopes may feel its power. 
 Still hopes are left that mock the tomb, 
 And nur'ure here the strength to bloom 
 In heavenly bower 
 
PASSION-FLOWER. 
 
 The Passion-flower derives its name from a superstitious 
 idea that all the instruments of the Saviour's passion are 
 represented in it. 
 
 Most of the Passion-flowers are natives of the hottest 
 parts of America, and require a stove in more northern 
 latitudes. It is a beautiful genus. The rose-coloured 
 Passion-flower is a native of Virginia, and is the species 
 which was first known in Europe. It has since been, in 
 a great measure, superseded by the blue Passion-flower, 
 which is hardy enough to flower in the open air, and 
 makes an elegant tapestry for an unsightly wall. The 
 leaves of this, in the autumn, are of the most brilliant 
 crimson ; and, when the sun is shining upon them, seem 
 to transport one to the gardens of Pluto. 
 
 THE PASSION-FLOWER. 
 
 BARTON. 
 
 We roam the seas — give new-found isles 
 Some King's or Conqueror's name ; 
 
 We rear on earth triumphal piles, 
 As meeds pC earthly fame. 
 
 Then may not one poor flow'ret's bloom 
 
 The holier memory share. 
 Of him who, to avert our doom, 
 
 Vouchsafed our sins to bear. 
 
 036, 
 
PASSION-FLOWER. 137 
 
 God dwelleth not in temples raised 
 
 By work of human hands; 
 Yet shrines august, by men revered, 
 
 Are found in Christian lands. 
 
 And may not e'en a simple flower 
 
 Proclaim his glorious praise, 
 Whose fiat only had the power 
 
 Its form from earth to raise? 
 
 Then freely let the blossoms ope. 
 
 Its beauties to recall, 
 A scene which bids the humble hope 
 
 In him who died for all. 
 
 The same. — dk. edmund cartwkight, 
 
 Von mystic flower, with gold and azure bright, 
 Whose stem luxuriant speaks a vigorous root. 
 Unfolds her blossoms to the morn's salute. 
 That close and die in the embrace of night. 
 No luscious fruits the cheated taste invite — 
 Her short-lived blossoms, ere they lead to fruit. 
 Demand a genial clime, and suns that shoot 
 Their rays direc', with undiminish'd light. 
 Thus BOPE, the passion-flower of human life, 
 Whose wild luxuriance mocks the pruner's knife. 
 Profuse in promise makes a like display 
 Of evanescent blooms — that last a day ; 
 To cheer the mental eye no more is given : 
 The FKUiT is only to be found — in heaven. 
 
HAWTHORN. 
 
 Few trees exceed the common Hawthorn in beauty, 
 during the season of its bloom. Its blossoms have been 
 justly compared to those of the myrtle : they are admir 
 able also for their abundance, and for their exquisite fra 
 grance. This shrub usually flowers in May ; and beinj. 
 the handsomest then (or perhaps at any time) wild in oui 
 fields, has obtained the name of May, or May-bush. The 
 country-people deck their houses and churches with the 
 blossoms on May-day, as they do with Holly at Christmas 
 
 THE HAWTHORN. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 On Summer's breast the Hawthorn shines 
 
 In all the Lily's bloom, 
 'Mid slopes where th' evening flock reclinea 
 
 Where glows the golden broom. 
 
 When yellow Autumn decks the plain. 
 The Hawthorn's boughs are green, 
 
 Amid the ripening fields of grain. 
 In emerald brightness seen. 
 
 A night of frost, a day of wind 
 
 Have stript the forest bare : 
 The Hawthorn too that blast shall find 
 
 Nor shall that spoiling spare. 
 
HAWTHORN \H 
 
 But, red with fruit, that Hawthorn bough. 
 
 Though leafless, yet will shine ; 
 The blackbird far its hues shall know, 
 
 As lapwing knows the vine. 
 
 Be thus thy youtli as Lilies gay, 
 
 Thy manhood vigorous green ; 
 And thus let fruit bedeck thy spray, 
 
 'Mid age's leafless scene. 
 
 jTAe same. — anon. 
 
 Fair Hawthorn flowering, 
 
 With green shade bowering 
 Along the lovely shore; 
 
 To thy foot around 
 
 With his long arm wound 
 A wild vine has mantled thee oV/. 
 
 In merry spring-tide, 
 
 When to woo his bride 
 The nightingale comes again, 
 
 Thy boughs among 
 
 He warbles his song, 
 That lightens a lover's pain. 
 
 'Mid thy topmost leaves 
 
 His nest he weaves 
 Of moss and the satin fine. 
 
 Where his callow brood 
 
 Shall chirp at their food, 
 Socure from each hand but mine 
 13* 
 
Un GENTIAN. 
 
 Cientle Hawthorn, thrive 
 
 And, for ever alive, 
 May'st thou blossom as now in thy prime; 
 
 By the wind unbroke, 
 
 And the thunderstroke, 
 Unspoil'd by the axe of timfe. 
 
 THE GENTIAN. 
 
 This genus of plant has received its name in honour of 
 Gentius, a King of Iliyria, who is said to have discovered 
 one of the species of it. He is also supposed to have 
 experienced its virtues on his army, as a cure for the 
 plague. 
 
 The Gentians are very numerous, and many of them 
 eminently beautiful. They are generally very difficult to 
 preserve m a garden ; and, being long-rooted, very few are 
 adapted for planting in pots. The smaller kinds, however, 
 may be so cultivated : as the Swallow-wort-leaved, which 
 does not exceed a foot in height, and has large light-blue 
 bell-shaped flowers, blowing in July and August. The roots 
 only are perennial ; the stalks decay annually : and of most 
 of the species the flowers appear but once in two or thiee 
 years. The March Gentian has also fine blue flowers, 
 though few in number, and blows in August and Septem- 
 ber. This species grows naturally in England and many 
 other parts of Europe 
 
GEJNTIAN. 141 
 
 THE GENTIANELLA 
 
 MONTGOMEKr. 
 IN LEAP. 
 
 Green thou art, obscurely green, 
 Meanest plant among the mean ! 
 — From the dust / took my birth; 
 Thou too art a child of earth. 
 I aspire not to be great; 
 Scorn not thou my low estate : 
 Wait the time, and thou shalt see 
 Honour crown humility, 
 Beauty set her seal on me. 
 
 IN FLOWER. 
 
 Dlue thou art, intensely blue ! 
 Flower, whence came thy dazzhng iius . 
 — When I open'd first mine eye, 
 Upward glancing to the sky, 
 Straightway from the firmaraeni 
 Was the sapphire-brilliance sent: 
 Brighter glory wouldst thou snare ! 
 Look to heaven, and seek it there 
 In the act of faith and prayer. 
 
 The same. — mrs. sigousney. 
 
 Meek dwellers 'mid yon terror-stricken cliffs ! 
 VVith brows so pure, and incense-breathing lips, 
 
142 GENTIAN. 
 
 Whence are ye? — Did some white-winged messenger 
 On Mercy's missions, trust your timid germ 
 To the cold cradle of eternal snows ? 
 Or, breathing on the callous icicles. 
 Bid them with tear-drops nurse ye? — 
 
 — Tree nor shrub 
 Dare that drear atmosphere ; no polar pine 
 Uprears a veteran front; yet there ye stand, 
 Leaning your cheeks against the thick-ribb'd ice. 
 And looking up with brilliant eyes to Him 
 Who bids you bloom unblanch'd amid the waste 
 Of desolation. Man, who, panting, toils 
 O'er slippery steeps, or, trembling, treads the vergf 
 Of yawning gulfs, o'er which the headlong plunge 
 Is to eternity, looks shuddering up. 
 And marks ye in your placid loveliness — 
 Fearless, yet frail — and, clasping his chill hands 
 Blesses your oencill'd beauty. 'Mid the pomp 
 Of mounlam summits, rushing on the sky, 
 And chainmg the rapt soul in breathless awe, 
 He bows to bind you drooping to his breast, 
 Inhales your spirit from the frost-wi.ig'd gale. 
 And freer dreams of heaven. 
 
FORGET-ME-NOT, OR MYOSOTIS PALUSTRIS. 
 
 This plant is named Myosotis from mus, a rat, and ous 
 otos, an ear. Its oval, velvety leaves are like the ears of a 
 lat or mouse. It is a well-known sentimental flower : will 
 grow everywhere ; and varies more than most plants with 
 situation. On dry walls and rubbish it is dwarfish, rough, 
 and hairy, not rising when m flower more than two of three 
 inches ; in muddy ditches it is smooth all over, of a shining 
 light green, and two or three feet high. In common soils, as 
 in a garden, or loamy corn-field, it assumes an intermediate 
 character. 
 
 FORGET-ME-NOT. 
 
 BERNARD BARTON. 
 
 Blossoms more rich and rare than thou 
 May twine round Beauty's graceful brow 
 
 In moods of sunny mirth ; 
 The Rose's or the Myrtle's flower 
 Might more beseera her festive hour, 
 Aind give, in Pleasure's careless bower, 
 
 To brighter fancies birth. 
 
 But in these moments sad, yet dear, 
 
 When parting wakes affection's tear, 
 
 Thy stainless blossoms' braid. 
 
 (14S) 
 
144 FORGET-ME-NOT. 
 
 Whose name forbids us to forget, 
 Would be the chosen coronet, 
 Love on the loveliest brow would set 
 To crave fond Memory's aid. 
 
 When, "earth to earth," and "dust to dust," 
 The loved, lamented, we entrust, 
 
 What flower may grace the spot, 
 Where sleep the reliques of the dead. 
 For whom the frequent tear is shed, 
 Like thine — which, from the grave's coid bed, 
 
 Repeats "Forget-me-not f 
 
 SONG OF THE FORGET-ME-NOT 
 
 ANON. 
 
 How many bright flowers now around me are glancing, 
 Each seeking its praise, or its beaut}' enhancing! 
 The Rose-buds are hanging like gems in the air 
 And the Lily-bell waves in her fragrance there. 
 41as ! I can claim neither fortune nor power, 
 Neither beauty nor fragrance are cast in my lolj 
 But contented I cling to my lowly bower. 
 And smile while T whisper — ^^Forget-me-not/" 
 
 The jasmine so lovely is o'er me entwining, 
 VVith the sweet-scented Violet its odours combining, — 
 Majf their discord be ended, and, smiling in peace. 
 Re it long ere their sweet dreams of happiness cease! 
 
MOSS. 
 
 Whiie I am. contented to blossom apa.-t, 
 In my humble bovver, by the low:) cot, 
 I ask for no Iwmage but that of the heart, 
 And smile while I whisper — " Forget-me-not i" 
 
 MOSSES. 
 
 A. FEW of the most remarkable Mosses are, the Greater 
 vVater-moss, the Grey Bog-moss, the Yellow Powder-wort, 
 tnd the Common Club-moss. 
 
 Mosses are almost constantly green, and have the finest 
 verdure in autumn. Some of the Mosses spread in a con- 
 tinual leaf; others grow hollow above, like small cups ; 
 others round on thf top, like mushrooms; and somp shoot 
 out in branches. All these have their different seeds, which 
 do not require great delicacy of soil, but take root on any 
 thing where they can grow- unmolested. Those Mosses 
 wiiich rise immeaiately from the earth are more perfect : 
 some of them w'hite and hollow^ or tislulous; and ,s<'mp of 
 them not much inferior to regular plants. T.V.' in ,r- ; • c 
 sorts grow on stones, in the form of a pile or fur, lilve vel- 
 vet, and of a glossy colour, between, green and black. But 
 the first sort) which appears like scurf or crust, seems to 
 rise but one ■^-^giee above the unwrought mould or earth. 
 An unhealthy tree 's never without these imperfect super- 
 ■plants , and the morcunhealthy the tree is, the better they 
 thrive. 
 
140 MOSS. 
 
 THE MOSS. 
 
 Ah, lovely flower I what care, what powBT, 
 In thy fair structure are display'd, 
 By Him who rear'd thee to this hour, 
 Within the forest's lonely shade ! 
 
 Thy tender stalk, and fibres fine, 
 Here find a shelter from the stonr. 
 Perhaps no hurpTn eyes but mine 
 Ere gazed upon thy lovely form. 
 
 The dew-drop glistens on thy leaf, 
 As if thou seem'dst to shed a tear ; 
 As if thou knew'st my tale of grief — 
 Felt all my sufierings severe. 
 
 But, ah ! thou know'st not my distress,-^ 
 In danger here from beasts of prey, 
 And robb'd of all I did possess, 
 By men more fierce by far than they. 
 
 Nor canst thou ease m.y burden'd sigh, 
 Nor cool the fever at my heart, 
 Though to the zephyrs passing by 
 Thou dost thy balmy sweets impart. 
 
 Yet He thai form'd thee, little plant, 
 And bade thee flourish in this place, 
 Who sees and feels my every want. 
 Can still support me by His grace. 
 
SUN-FLOWER, &c. 147 
 
 Oft has BQs arm, all strong to save, 
 Protected my defenceless head 
 From ills I never could perceive, 
 Nor could my feeble hand have stay'd. 
 
 Then shall I still pursue my way 
 O'er the wild desert's sun-burnt soil, 
 To where the ocean's swelling spray 
 Washes my long'd-for native isle. 
 
 SUN-FLOWER, MARIGOLD, AND HELIOTROPE. 
 
 The Sun-flower does not derive its name, as some have 
 supposed, from turning to the sun, but from the resem- 
 blance of the full-blown flower to the sun itself: Gerard 
 remarks, that he has seen four of these flowers on the 
 same stem, pointing to the four cardinal points. This 
 flower is a native of Mexico and Peru, and looks as if 
 it grew from their own gold. It flowers from June to 
 October. 
 
 The principal species of Sun-flower are — the Dwarf 
 Annual, the Perennial, the Dark Red, and the narrow- 
 leaved. 
 
 Several of the Sun-flowers are natives of Canada, where 
 
 they are much admired and cultivated by the inhabitants, 
 
 in gardens, for their beauty ; in the United States we 
 
 sow whole acres of land with them, for the purpose of 
 
 14 
 
148 SUN-FLOWER, &o 
 
 preparing oil from their seeds, of which they produce an 
 immense number. 
 
 The Sun-flower was formerly called Marigold also, as 
 the Marigold was termed Sira-flower. Gerard styles it ihe 
 Sun marigold. 
 
 In old authors, the name for the plant, which is now 
 more strictly and properly designated the Marigold, is 
 Golds, or Rudds. Golds, or Gouldes, is a name given 
 by the country-people to a variety of yellow flowers ; and 
 the name of the Virgin Mary has been added to many 
 plants which were anciently, for their beauty, named after 
 Venus, of which the Marigold is one : Costmary, the Vir- 
 gin Mary's Costus, is another. 
 
 The Field Marigold is a native of most parts of Europe, 
 and differs but little from the garden Marigold, except in 
 being altogether smaller. 
 
 There are many varieties of the Garden Marigold ; one 
 of which, the Proliferous, called by Gerard the fruitful 
 Marigold, is, as he says, ' called by the vulgar sort of 
 women, Jack-an-apes on horseback.' Although this species 
 of ]\[arigold is generally yellow, there is a variety with 
 purple flowers. 
 
 Linnajus has observed, that the .Marigold is usually open 
 from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon. This 
 circumstance attracted early notice, and on this account 
 the plant has been termed Solisequa (Sun-follower), and 
 Soils sponsa, Spouse of the Sun. 
 
 The Heliotrope is the same with the Turnsole, both 
 names being derived from words which signify to turn 
 with the sun. 
 
SUN-FLOWER, &c 149 
 
 The Sun-flower is of the class Syngenesia, and ordei 
 Polygamia Frustanea ; the Marigold of the same class, 
 but of the order Polygamia Necessaria ; and the Heli- 
 otrope of the class Pentandria, and order Monogynia." 
 
 SUN-FLOWER, &c. 
 
 As the Sun-flower turns to her god, when he sets, 
 The same look which she turn'd when he rose. 
 
 And Sun-flowers planting, for their gilded show. 
 That scale the window's lattice ere they blow. 
 Then, sweet to habitants within the sheds, 
 Peep through the diamond panes their golden heads. 
 
 CLARE. 
 
 What yellow, lovely as the golden morn. 
 The Eupine and the Heliotrope adorn ! 
 
 THE HELIOTROPE 
 
 ANON. 
 
 There is a flower, whose modest eye 
 Is turn'd with Iooks of light and love. 
 
 Who breathes her softest, sweetest sigh, 
 Whene'er the sun is bright above. 
 
150 SUN-FLOWER, &c. 
 
 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 b'jt an adverse cloud appear. 
 And thou art faithless as the flower! 
 
 THE MARIGOLD. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 The Marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, 
 And with him rises weeping. 
 
 The same. — wither. 
 
 When with a serious musing I behold 
 
 The grateful and obsequious Marigold, — 
 
 How duly, every morning, she displays 
 
 Her open breast when Phoebus spreads his rays ; 
 
 How she observes him m his daily walk, 
 
 Still bending tow'rds him her small slender stalk ; 
 
 How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns 
 
 Bedew'd, as 'twere with tears, till he returns; 
 
 And how she veils her flowers wher he is gone. 
 
 As if she scorned to be look'd upon 
 
SLTN-FLOWER, &c 151 
 
 By an inferior eye, or did contemn 
 
 To wait upon a meaner light than liim : 
 
 When this I meditate, methinks the flower? 
 
 Have spirits far more generous than ours, 
 
 And give us fair examples, to despise 
 
 The servile fawnings and idolatries 
 
 Wherewith we count these earthly things helow, 
 
 Which merit not the service we bestow ; 
 
 But, O my God I though grovelling I appear 
 
 Upon the ground, and have a rooting here 
 
 Which hales me downward, yet in my desire 
 
 To that which is above me I aspire : 
 
 And all my best affections I profess 
 
 To him that is the Sun of Righteousness. 
 
 Oh ! keep the morning of his incarnation, 
 
 The burning noontide of his bitter passion. 
 
 The night of his descending, and the heigh! 
 
 Of his ascension, ever in my sight; 
 
 That, imitating him in what I may, 
 
 I never follow an inferior way. 
 
 14* 
 
THE AMARANTH. 
 
 Thk Amaranth, which is also called Flower-genlle, anc 
 Wlvet-fiower, derives its botanical name from a Greek word 
 " hich signifies unfading. 
 
 Aiiwjii^ ttie maiiv sijeoies of Amaranth, the most beautiful 
 
 ' , rhe Tree Amaranth, and the long pendulous Amaranth 
 uiih reddish-coloun^d seeds, commonly called Loue lies a 
 bleeding. The origin of this name has not yet been disco- 
 vered. 
 
 Of the Globe Amaranth there are several varieties — 
 white, purple, striped, die. The purple resembles clover 
 raised to an intense, pitch of colour, and sprinkled with 
 "iviitis of gold. The flowers, gathf'red when full grown, 
 I ..'!i ! Ill il.f bhaJe, Will prfserve tli^ir beauty for years, 
 partii-',.! ir' V .. 'nev are i,oi expused to l!ir sun. !u Portugiil 
 :iM(l oiniT v\-irTii couulncs, llir churches are m v* inter adoined 
 with the Globe Amaranth. 
 
 By the streams- that ever flow, 
 By the fragrant winds that blow 
 
 O'er the Elysian flowers ; 
 By the fragrant winds thai dwell 
 In yelli>\'- meads of Asphodel, 
 
 Or amaranthine bowers. 
 
 POPE. 
 
AMARANTH. l.')3 
 
 POETICAL AMARANTH. 
 
 Milton. 
 Immortal Amaranth, a flower which once 
 In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
 Began to bloom, but soon for man's offence 
 To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows 
 And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life 
 And where the river of bliss through midst of heaveo 
 Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream ; 
 With these, that never fade, the spirits elect 
 Bind their resplendent locks, enwreathed with beams ; 
 Now in loose garlands, thick thrown off, the bright 
 Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone, 
 'mpurpled witn celestial Roses, smiled. 
 
 TO THE WILD AMARANTH. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Thk Rose, that gave its perfume to the gale. 
 And triumph'd for an hour, in gay parade 
 Pride of Damascus, bright imperial flower, 
 
 Was born to fade ! 
 Shorn of its bloom, and rifled of its power, 
 Scared by the blast, and scatter'd in the vale ! 
 
 So youth shall wither, beauty pass away ! 
 
 The bloom of health, the flush of mantling pride, 
 
 Nor wealth, nor skill, nor eloquence, can save 
 
IM AMARANTH. 
 
 From swift decay ! 
 Beauty and youth are dust to dust allied, 
 And time returns its tribute to the grave ! 
 
 Pale, unobtrusive tenant of the field ! 
 Thy fair, unsullied form shall still remain, 
 'Mid summer's heat and autumn's chill career 
 
 And winter's reign ; 
 E'en the first honours of the floral year 
 To thee alone shall gay Narcissus yield. 
 
 Fair emblem art thou of the pious breast ! 
 Like thee, unfading flower, shall virtue bloom 
 When youth and all its busding pride repose 
 
 Deep in the tomb ! 
 When beauty's cheek shall wither like the Rose, 
 And beauty's sparkling ey s shall be at rest ! 
 
THE ALOE. 
 
 The aloe is made the emblem of acute sorrow, on ac 
 count of its painful bitterness. The bitter of the aloe 
 affects the body, that of affliction reaches the soul. 
 
 Sorrow that locks up the struggling heart. 
 
 AKENSIDE. 
 
 If you do sorrow at my grief m love 
 By giving love your sorrow and my grief 
 Were both extermined. 
 
 SHAKSFEARE. 
 
 Besides, you know, 
 
 Prosperity 's the very bond of love ; 
 
 Whose fresh complexion, and whose heart together 
 
 Affliction alters. 
 
 winter's tale. 
 
 (1S5) 
 
THE WHITE JASMINE. 
 
 Thl j! .r.ilv r>f ihis unassuming flower is even siirpas^ id 
 b\ its dcii^SlPil oi!(jur; inuy we thus always finil lu' .-ii. 
 ness accooijMuied i)y nmiai>iljty ! 
 
 And brides, as delicate and fair 
 
 As the white jasmine flowers they wear. 
 
 T. MOORE. 
 
 The jessamine, with which the queen of flowers 
 To charm her god, adorns his favourite bowers; 
 Which brides by the pUiin hand of neatness drest, 
 Unenvied r:\al! wear iiii.-n tlifir breast; 
 Sweet as llu' im-cnsf of ihc morn, and chaste 
 As the pure zone which circles Dian's wai-^t. 
 
 CHURCHILL 
 
 THE VIRGIN'S-BOWER. 
 
 When urtifice is innocently resorted to for the purpose 
 of giving plensure, it may be compared to the agreeable 
 fragr'i.co of the o'..cot clematis. Bui when it is used to 
 enlfingie the unuuiy. it bccuiiies the agent of hiin whom 
 Milton thus describes; 
 
 C156j 
 
LAVKNDEK. 157 
 
 He, soon aware. 
 Each perturbation smooth'd witlr. outward calm, 
 Artificer of I'raud ! and was the first 
 That practised falsehood under saintly show. 
 
 Clematis, wreath afresh thy garden bower. 
 
 And virgin's bower, trailing airily. 
 
 KEATS. 
 
 THE LAVENDER. 
 
 In the floral problems of the Turks, this agreeable plant 
 represents assiduity ; but the continental euibleniatists make 
 it symbolical of mistrust and disunion, because it is fre- 
 quently used to cover disagreeable odours. 
 
 Mistrust can only belong justly to such as are accus- 
 tomed to cheat and deceive, and those need no greater 
 curse for their misdeeds. 
 
 And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom 
 
 Shall be erewhile in arid bundles bound. 
 
 To lurk amidst her labours of the loom. 
 
 And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume. 
 
 SHENSTONE- 
 
158 PIMPERNEL. — SENSITIVE PLANT. 
 
 THE PIMPERNEL. 
 
 This sensitive little flower is made the symbol of as 
 signation, because the closing of its petals foretels wet; 
 but when fully expanded it proclaims fair and dry weather. 
 It is consequently called the peasant's barometer, and the 
 shepherd's weather-glass. 
 
 The peasant loiters at the appointed stile, and the 
 
 " Sliepherd tells his tale 
 
 Under the hawthorn in the dale.' 
 
 Closed is the pink-ey'd pimpernel. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 'T will surely rain, I see, with sorrow . 
 Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow." 
 
 DE. JENNEB. 
 
 THE SENSITIVE PLANT. 
 
 Modesty becomes the brave as well as the fair. YounJ 
 says, 
 
 Of boasting more than of a tomb afraid ; 
 
 A soldier should be modest as a maid. 
 
 (158) 
 
HONEYSUCKLE. 159 
 
 Whence does it happen that the plant, which well 
 We name sensitive, should move and feel? 
 When know her leaves to answer her command, 
 And with quick horror fly the neighbouring hand? 
 
 prior's SOLOMON. 
 
 This little plant — how cautiously it meets 
 Th' approaching hand ! advance, and it retreats I 
 See how it flies from the supposed disgrace, 
 And shrinks from contact of the rude embrace ! 
 
 So wisdom folly should for ever shun ; 
 So virtue from the touch of vice should run ; 
 So female beauty should from flatt'ry fly, 
 And spurn the incense of the gilded lie. 
 
 THE HONEYSUCKLE, OR WOODBINE. 
 
 So doth the woodbine, the sweet honeysuckle 
 Gently entwine. 
 
 This happy emblem reminds us that sweetness of disposL 
 tion is a firmer tie thar dazzling beauty. 
 
 Copious of flowers, the woodbine, pale and wan. 
 But well compensating her sickly looks 
 With never-cloying odours, early and late. 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 15 
 
160 ORANGE FLOWERS. — BUTTER-CUP 
 
 ORANGE FLOWERS. 
 
 These fragrant blossoms are made the emblem of chaslitj 
 from the purity of their white petals. One of the principal 
 beauties of the orange tree consists in its bearing fruit and 
 flowers at the same time, as is beautifully noticed by Pope : 
 
 Here orange trees with blossoms and pendants shine, 
 And vernal honours to their autumn join ; 
 Exceed their promise in the ripen'd store. 
 Yet in the rising blossom promise more. 
 
 TuE punic granate op'd its rose-like flowers, 
 The orange breathed its aromatic powers. 
 
 SWIFT. 
 
 BUTTER. CUPS. 
 
 This flower, which so gaily bedecks our meadows witti 
 its golden petals, and enters so frequently into the sports oi 
 [nfancy, is presented as a meet emblem of childishness. 
 
 And daisy there, and cowslip too, 
 And butter-cups of golden hue. 
 The children meet as soon as sought, 
 And gain their wish as soon as thought ; 
 Who oft, I ween, the children's way. 
 Will leap the threshold's bounds to play. 
 
 VILLAGE MINSTREL 
 
POPPY — NETTLE 161 
 
 THE POPPY. 
 
 In floral language, the poppy is made the symbol of con 
 soiation to the sick, since it procures ease and sleep to the 
 restless invalid. 
 
 Fertility was hieroglyphically described by Venus, with a 
 head of poppy in her hand. 
 
 And poppies, which bind fast escaping sleep. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 
 From the Poppy I have ta'en 
 Mortals balm, and mortals cine ! 
 Juice, that creeping through the heart, 
 Deadeno every sense of smart. 
 
 MRS. M. ROBINSON. 
 
 THE STINGING NETTLE. 
 
 The nettle carries its cruel venom in a bag at the base 
 o'- the sting, always ready to perforate the incautious, and 
 throw in its vegetable poison, which, like slander, attacks 
 even the brave when it can act slyly. But, neither the 
 sting of the nettle, nor the tooth of a viper, is so much tQ 
 be dreaded as the tongue of a slanderer. 
 
162 RHODODENDRON. 
 
 And rampant nettles lift the spiry head. 
 
 BLOOMFIELD. 
 
 Some so like to thorns and nettles live, 
 
 Tnat none for them can, when they perish, grieve. 
 
 WALLEK 
 
 THE RHODODENDRON. 
 
 These purple flowers abound in a poisonous honey, anJ 
 have hence been made emblema>ical of the dangers that 
 lurk about the imperial purple. 
 
 O'er pine-clad hills, and dusky plains, 
 In silent state rhodendron reigns, 
 And spreads, in beauty's softest blooms. 
 Her purple glories through the glooms. 
 
 SHAW. 
 
 Ev'n as those bees of Trebizond, — 
 
 Which from the sunniest flowers that clad 
 
 With their pure smile the garden round. 
 Draw venom forth that drives men mad. 
 
 T. MOOKK 
 
CYPRESS — CENTAURY. 163 
 
 THE CYPRESS TREE. 
 
 This tree has been dedicated to sorrow and deUh. h 
 all civilized countries, and in all ages from the dfts'.ruc- 
 tion of Troy to the present day. 
 
 The mournful cypress rises roupd, 
 Tap'ring from the burial ground. 
 
 LUCAN^. 
 
 In mournful pomp the matrons walk the round. 
 With baleful cypress and blue fillets crown'd, 
 With eyes dejected, and with hair unbound. 
 
 .siNEAs, Book 3 
 
 THE BLUE-BOTTLE CENTAURY. 
 
 This beautiful corn flower, the subject of the following 
 verses, is made the emblem of delicacy from the purity 
 of its celestial colour, which is not equal ed by the fines 
 ultramarine, and scarcely surpassed by the azure veins 
 of youthful beauty. 
 
 Theke is a flower, a purple flowei 
 Sown by the wind, nursed by the shower, 
 15* 
 
164 THE SWEET-PEA. 
 
 O'er which Love has breathed a power and spell 
 The truth of whispering hope to tell. 
 
 And with scarlet poppies around like a bower, 
 
 Found the maiden her mystic flower. 
 
 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. 
 
 THE SWEET-PEA. 
 
 From the charms this flower displays both in fragran ;e 
 and colour it has become the emblem of Delicate Pleasure, 
 
 These delicacies, 
 I mean of taste, sight, smell, herbs, fruit, and flowers. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 Here are sweet-peas on tip-toe for a flight. 
 The wings of gentle flush, o'er delicate white, 
 And taper fingers catching at all things 
 To bind them all about with tiny rings. 
 
 KEATS. 
 
MEZEREON. — NARCISSUS. 165 
 
 THE MEZEREON. 
 
 iN floral language, this early flowering shrub is niado 
 to express a desire to please, whilst others make it ona 
 of Jhe emt)lems of coquetry, comparing it to a nymph, 
 wno in the midst of winter seeks admiration in her sum- 
 mer robes. 
 
 Leave such to trifle with more grace and ease, 
 Whom folly pleases, and whose follies please. 
 
 POPE. 
 
 Mezereon too, 
 Though leafless, well attired, and thick beset 
 With blushing wreaths, investing every spray. 
 
 COWPEB. 
 
 THE NARCISSUS. 
 
 Fhom Ovid's beautiful metamorphosis of the lovely and 
 coy Narcissus into this flower it has become the emblem 
 3f Egotism and Self-Love. 
 
 Narcisstjs on the grassy verdure lies : 
 But whilst within the crystal , fount he tries 
 To quench his heat, he feels new heats arise. 
 
166 CONVOLVULUS MAJOR. 
 
 For as his own bright image he survcy'd, 
 He fell in love with the fantastic shade ; 
 And o'er the fair resemblance hung unmoved : 
 Nor knew, fond youth ! it was himself he loved. 
 
 Narcissus fair, 
 As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 THE CONVOLVULUS MAJOR. 
 
 This flower is given to the ladies, that when they have 
 made their happy choice, they may have an appropriate 
 flower to bestow on their hopeless suitors, so as to extin- 
 guish the flame their charms have created. It is the em- 
 blem of extinguished hopes. 
 
 Convolvulus, expand thy cup-like flower, 
 Graceful in form, and beautiful in hue. 
 
 The soft god of pleasures that warm'd our desires. 
 Has broken his bow, and extinguish'd his fires. 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
ROSl!>«IARY.-IVY. 167 
 
 THE ROSEMARY. 
 
 RosEMARV was formerly worn at weddings, to signify 
 ilie fidelity of the lovers. It was also an emblem of re- 
 membrance. 
 
 I MEET few but are stuck with rosemary : every one 
 asked me who was to be married. 
 
 NOBLE SPANISH SOLDIEK. 
 
 There's rosemary for you, that's for remembrance; 
 pray you love, remember. 
 
 OPHELIA. 
 
 He, from his lass him lavender has sent, 
 Showing her love, and doth requital cave; 
 Him rosemary his sweetheart, whose intent 
 Is that he her should in remembrance have. 
 
 DRAYTON. 
 
 THE IVY. 
 
 This emblem of generous friendship attaches itself to 
 the wretched. 
 
 As the ivy, wten blasts howl before it, 
 Clasps the bough it encircles more tight ; 
 
 So my heart, in the storms that break o'er it. 
 •More closely to thine shall unite. 
 
lis V EL LOW IKIS. 
 
 Then com; to tins bosinn — 'tis bleeding and bare, 
 But the child of affliction may find a honne there. 
 
 W. W. B 
 
 I LOVE the ivy-mantled tower, 
 
 Rock'd by the storm of thousani years. 
 
 CUNNINGHAM 
 
 Thus stands an aged elm, in ivy bound, 
 Thus yo'ithful ivy clasps an elm around. 
 
 PA.RNE1.L. 
 
 THE YELLOW IR13. 
 
 This flag flower is made to represent- - 
 
 My heart 's on flame, and docs lilvc fira 
 To her aspire. 
 
 COWLEV. 
 
 No warning of th' approachm;'' '■.ma, 
 Swiftly like sudden deatli it f-nm — 
 I loved the moment I beheld. 
 
 G!l vNilLTE. 
 
 Amid i;s waving swords, in Hot . g gold 
 The Iris towers . 
 
 MKS. C SMITH. 
 
COLUMBINF —ALMOND. 109 
 
 THE COLUMBINE. 
 
 This flower is made the emblem of folly, cither on ao- 
 jount of its party-coloured corolla, or in allusion to the 
 shape of its nectary, which turns over like the cap of the 
 old jesters. 
 
 ■And entwine 
 
 The white, the blue, the flesh-like columbine. 
 
 W. BROWNE. 
 
 The columbine in tawny often taken. 
 Is then ascribed to such as are forsaken. 
 
 IBID. 
 
 THE ALMOND. 
 
 The blushing petals which bedeck the leafless branches 
 of these trees that of old embellished the banks ol' the Jor- 
 dan, are made emblematical of heedlessness, frrim their 
 venturing forth before nature has prepared the foliage foJ 
 their protection. 
 
 Like to an almond-tree, mounted high 
 
 On top of green Selenis, all alone, 
 
 With blossoms brave bedecked daintily ; 
 
 Whose tender locks do tremble every one, 
 
 At every little breath that under heaven is blown. 
 
 FAERY aUEEK 
 
 16 
 
no BROOM. 
 
 Mark well the flow'ring almonds in the wood: 
 If od'rous blossoms the bearing branches load, 
 The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign, 
 Great heats will follow, and large crops of grain. 
 
 DHYDEN. 
 
 BROOM. 
 
 Even humble broom and osiers have their use. 
 
 In the hieroglyphical language of flowers, the broom is 
 made the emblem of Humility from the following historical 
 Rnecdofe. 
 
 Fulkc, Earl of Anjou, having been guilty of some crime, 
 was enjoined, by way of penance, to go to the Holy Land 
 and submit to castigation. He acquiesced, habited himself 
 in lowly attire, and, as a mark of his humility, wore a sprig 
 of broom in his cap. 
 
 The expiation being happily finished, Fulke adopted the 
 name of Plantagenet, from the Latin of this shrub, planta- 
 genesta. 
 
 His descendants continued the name, and many successive 
 nobles of the line of Anjou, distinguished themselves by 
 decorating their helmets with this plant. 
 
 The arms of Rif-hard the First were, " two lions combat- 
 ant." Crest, a plantagenista, or broom sprig. Upon his 
 great seal, a broom sprig is placed on each side of his 
 throne. — SandfonVs Genealogical History. 
 
THISTLE.— ASPEN TREE 171 
 
 • the broom, 
 
 Yellow and bright as bullion unalloy'd, 
 Her blossoms. 
 
 THE COMMON THISTLE. 
 
 This plant, that furnishes its seeds with wings by which 
 It flies from hill to dale, too frequently intrudes itself into 
 our fields, to the mjury of the farmer's best hopes. It is 
 therefore made'the emblem of Importunity. 
 
 Now where the thistle blows his feather'd seed, 
 Which frolic zephyrs buffet in the air. 
 
 FALCONER. 
 
 Wide o'er the thistly lawn as swells the breeze, 
 A whitening shower of vegetable down 
 Amusive floats. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Tough thistles chok'd the fields, and kill'd the corn, 
 And an unthrifty crop of weeds was born. 
 
 DKYDEN. 
 
 THE ASPEN TREE. 
 
 iJiGOTED ignorance states that the cross was made from 
 this tree, since which time the leaves have never known 
 rest, and from hence the emblem seems to have originated 
 
.72 STOCK. 
 
 VS/flr tremble so, broad aspen tree? 
 
 Why shake thy leaves, ne'er ceasing ? 
 At rest thou never seem'st to be, 
 
 For when the air is still and clear, 
 Or when the nipping gale increasing, 
 
 Shakes from thy boughs soft twilight's tear, 
 Thou tremblest still, broad aspen tree. 
 And never tranquil seem'st to be. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 THE STOCK, OR GILLYFLOWER. 
 
 Lasting beauty is represented by this flower whose 
 charms, although less graceful than the rose or the lily, 
 are more durable, and consequently embellish the parterre 
 for a greater length of time. 
 
 Fair is the gillyflower of gardens sweet. 
 
 GAY. 
 
 And lavish stock, that scents the garden round. 
 
 THOMSON 
 
 Hekbs and flowers, the beauteous birth 
 Of the genial womb of earth, 
 Sufl^er but a transient ^eath, 
 From the winter's cruei breath! 
 
MYRTLE. J7S 
 
 Zepnyr speaks — sereuer skies, 
 Warm the glebe, and they arise! 
 We, alas ! earth's haughty kings, 
 V\ e that promise mighty things. 
 Losing soon life's happy prime. 
 Droop and fade in little time, 
 Spring returns, but not our bloom 
 Still 't is winter in the tomb 1 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 THE MYRTLE. 
 
 Mtthological writers state that when Venus first sprang 
 from the bosom of the waves, the Hours preceded her with 
 a garland of myrtle, srace which it has been dedicated to the 
 goddess of beauty, and made the emblem of love. 
 
 Tbe lover's myrtle. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Like a myrtle tree in flower 
 
 Taken from an Asian bower. 
 Where with many a dewy cup. 
 
 Nymphs in play had nursed it up. 
 
 hunt's CATULLUS. 
 
 The lover with the myrtle sprays 
 Adorns his crispeii tresses. 
 
 DRAYTON. 
 16* 
 
174 CROWN IMPERIAL. 
 
 Imperial passion ! sacred fire ! *" 
 
 When we of meaner subjects sing, 
 
 Thou tun'st our harp, thou dost our souls inspire; 
 
 'Tis love directs the quill, 'tis love strikes every string 
 
 ANON 
 
 Love ! that vast passion of the mind. 
 
 Whose roving flame does traverse o'er 
 All nature's good, and search for more ; 
 
 Still to thy magic spheres confined, 
 'T is beauty's all we can desire ; 
 Beauty the native mansion of love's fire. 
 
 THE CROWN IMPERIAL. 
 
 This Persian flower, that towers above the more huntv 
 ble plants of the parterre, holds a high rank in flora: 
 emblems. 
 
 The crown imperial ; lilies of all kinds, 
 
 The fleur-de-luce being one ! O, these I lack, 
 
 To make you garlands of. 
 
 • SHAKSPE\RE. 
 
 The lily's height bespake command, 
 
 A fair imperial flower; 
 She seem'd design'd for Flora's hand, 
 
 The sceptre of her power. 
 
IRIS. — DAJMDELION. 175 
 
 THE IRIS. 
 
 This flower, which the poets have chosen ns the em- 
 olem of the messenger of the gods, takes its name from 
 the celestial bow, on account of its various colours. 
 
 The various iris, Juno sends with haste. 
 
 L'lEis que flora a prise aux cieux. 
 
 Nor iris, with her glorious rainbow clothed 
 So fulgent, as the cheerful gardens shine 
 With their bright offspring. 
 
 THE DANDELION. 
 
 The -nedicinal properties of this plant have caused it 
 to be familiarly known by a name that has brought it 
 into contempt, and on which account it is presumed the 
 emblem originated. It is the emblem of an Oracle. 
 
 ■ Dandelion this, 
 
 A college youth, that flashes for a day 
 All gold ; anon he doffs his gaudy suit, 
 Touch'd by the magic hand of some grave bishop, 
 
176 MISSELTOE. 
 
 And all at once, by commutation strange. 
 Becomes a reverend divine. 
 
 Why, by the verities on thee made good. 
 May they not be my oracles. 
 
 SHAKSPEARE 
 
 THE MISTLETOE. 
 
 This plant, which is without an earthly inheritance, 
 makes no difficulty in attaching itself to the branches of 
 lofty trees, and there, without apparent labour, subsists 
 upon the nsrending sap of its supporter. 
 
 When drawn suspended on a tree, it is the symbol of 
 a flaltering hanger-on. 
 
 The naturalists are puzzled to explain 
 
 How trees did first this stranger entertain ; 
 
 Whether the busy birds ingraft it there, 
 
 Or, else, some deity's mysterious care. 
 
 As Druids thought; for when the blasted oak 
 
 By lightning falls, this plant escapes the stroke. 
 
 GARTH. 
 
OLIVE, — STRAWBERRY. n~i 
 
 THE OLIVE. 
 
 From the time of the general deluge to the present day 
 the olive branch has ever been the emblem of peace. 
 
 But he her fears to cease, 
 
 Sent down the meek-ey'd Peace ; 
 She, crown'd with olive green, came softly sliding 
 
 Down through the turning sphere. 
 
 His ready harbinger; 
 
 With turtle wing, the amorous clouds dividmg, 
 
 And waving wide her myrtle wand. 
 She strikes an universal peace through sea and land. 
 
 THE STRAWBERRY. 
 
 This agreeable and wholesome fruit is made the symbol 
 of perfect goodness, from its fragrance, flavour, and innf 
 fensive qualities. Shakspeare says. 
 
 The strawberry grows underneath the nettle; 
 And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best, 
 Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality. 
 
 Content with food which nature freely bred 
 On wildings and strawberries they fed. 
 
 DBTDEN 
 
178 MOUNTAIN ASH. — CHESTNUT. 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN ASH. 
 
 This elegant tree seems to have been selected as the 
 emblem of prudence, from its foliage being withheld until 
 the equinoctial winds have ceased to commit their devas 
 tations. 
 
 The mountain ash, whose flower-fill'd boughs 
 
 Spread like a cloud at noon ; 
 Whose shadow is a haunted place 
 
 For the sweet airs of June. 
 
 ♦ **##» 
 
 I wreathed amid thy hair 
 
 Its berries, like the coral crown 
 
 That the sea-maidens wear. 
 
 L. E. L. 
 
 THE CHESTNUT TREE. 
 
 This tree affords a wholesome nourishment to the inha- 
 bitants of many countries. It was of more importance in 
 former days, and the roasting of these nuts is mentioned by 
 poets whose verses will ever be admired, however time may 
 change our customs. 
 
 New cheese and chestnuts are our country fare, 
 With mellow apples for your welcome cheer. 
 
 Virgil's pastorals. 
 
LILV OF THE VALLEY. i7i» 
 
 Ok whose discourse with innocent delight 
 Shall fill me now, and cheat the wintry nignt? 
 While hisses on my hearth the pulpy pear, 
 And black'ning chestnuts start, and crackle there 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 A woman's tongue, 
 That gives not half so great a blow to th' ear, 
 As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire. 
 
 SHAKSFEAE£. 
 
 LILY OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 This flower, whose odour is as agreeable as »ts form is 
 elegant, announces the happy season of May, when 
 
 new verdure clothes the plain, 
 
 And earth assumes her transient youth again. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 • And ye, whose lowlier pride 
 
 In sweet seislusion seems to shrink from view, — 
 
 You of the valley named, no longer hide 
 
 Your blo330 ns meet to twine the brow of purest bnde. 
 
 BAETON. 
 
 Then the sweet lily of the vale 
 
 In woodland dells is found, 
 While whisp'ring winds its sweets exhale 
 
 And waft As fragrance round. 
 
ISO LOTUS FLOWER. 
 
 LOTUS FLOWER, OR WATER LILY 
 
 Where blameless pleasures dimple quiet's cheek, 
 As water-lilies ripple n slow stream ! 
 
 COLERIDGE. 
 
 We present this aquatic plant as the emblem of silence 
 since the antiquarians assure us, that they recognize this 
 flower on the head of Harpoc rates. 
 
 Love glides silently upon us, and the Indians feign thai 
 Cupid was first seen floating down the Ganges on the 
 Nymphma Nelvmho. 
 
 Down the blue Ganges laughing glide 
 
 Upon a rosy lotus wreath, 
 Catching new lustre from the tide, 
 
 That with his image shone beneath. 
 
 T. MOORE. 
 
 The lotus is an object of supreme veneration in all the 
 mythological systems of the east, especially in that of the 
 Hindoos. 
 
 The sacred name of this plant is Pedma, and it is pre- 
 tended that Brahma was born in a lotus, when he created 
 the world, wherefore it is regarded as the symbol of creative 
 power. 
 
 And thy own pedma, roseate flower of light, 
 Emblem and cradle of creative might. 
 
 C. GRANT. 
 
 This plant, (says Mr. Knight,) being productive of itsell, 
 and vegetating from its own matrice, without being fostered 
 
DRAGON PLANT. 18 J 
 
 in the earth, was naturally adopted as the symbol of the 
 productive power of waters, upon which the active spirit of 
 the creator operated, in giving life and vegetation to matter 
 
 DRAGON PLANT. 
 
 Oh! wander not where dragon Arum ehowers 
 Her baleful dews, and twines her purple flowers, 
 Lest round thy neck she throw her snaring arms, 
 Sap thy life's blood, and riot on thy charms. 
 Her shining berry, as the ruby bright. 
 Might please thy taste, and tempt thy eager sight: 
 Trust not this specious veil; beneath its guise. 
 In honey'd streams, a fatal poison lies. 
 
 MRS. F. A. ROWOEN. 
 
 The above lines were penned to caution children against 
 the dangers of this beautiful vegetable production. But as 
 children of a full growth are frequently entangled, we shall 
 caution them in the words of Dryden, who says, 
 
 The spreading snare for all mankind is laid, 
 And lovers all betray or are betray'd. 
 
 17 
 
183 HEATH. 
 
 THE HEATH. 
 
 The beautiful heath with its purple bells, has been cho- 
 sen for the emblem of solitude, because it grows only ia 
 a barren soil, and consequently in dreary situations. 
 
 What call'st thou solitude? Is not the earth 
 With various living creatures, and the air, 
 Replenish'd, and all these at thy command, 
 To come and play before thee? 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 The Erica here. 
 
 Thai o'er the Caledonian hills sublime. 
 
 Spreads its dark mantle, (where the bees delight 
 
 To seek their purest honey,) flourishes. 
 
 MRS. C. SMITH 
 
 To you, ye wastes, whose artless charms 
 
 Ne'er drew ambition's eye, 
 'Scaji'd a tumultuous world's alarms. 
 
 To your retreats I fly. 
 
 Deep m your most sequester'd bower, 
 
 Let me at last recline ; 
 Where solitude, mild modest power, 
 
 Leans on her ivy'd shrine. 
 
 BEATTIE 
 
ADONIS. 18a 
 
 THE ADONIS. 
 
 Fable tells us that Adonis stained with his olood the 
 flower that bears his name, and hence it has been made 
 the emblem of sorrowful remembrances. 
 
 Some poets make this flower symbolical of the chase, 
 in allusion to Adonis's love of hunting. 
 
 Then on the blood sweet nectar she uestows, 
 The scented blood in little bubbles rose : 
 Little as falling drops, which flutt'ring fly. 
 Borne by the winds along a low'ring sky. 
 Short time ensued, till where the blood was shed, 
 A flow'r began to rear its purple head. 
 
 EUSDEn's OVID. 
 
 On the discolour'd grass Adonis lay. 
 
 The monster trampling o'er his beauteous prey 
 
 ***** 
 
 Yet dares not Venus with a change surprise. 
 And in a flower bid her fall'n here rise. 
 
 17* 
 
184 CEDAR TREE — WHITE PINK. 
 
 THE CEDAR TREE 
 
 The use of this wood for all purposes requiring strength, 
 has been proverbial from the time of Solomon to the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 Yet heaven their various plants for use designs, 
 For houses, cedars ; and for shipping, pines. 
 
 VIRGIL. 
 
 Cedars here, 
 
 Coeval with the sky-crown'd mountain's self. 
 Spread wide their giant arms. 
 
 MASON. 
 
 THE WHITE PINK. 
 
 This flower, so richly gifted with odour, is emblematica 
 of those persons who benefit society by their talents. 
 
 Sweet flower, beneath thy natal sky 
 No fav'ring smiles thy scents invite ; 
 
 To Britain's worthier regions fly, 
 
 And paint her meadows with delight. 
 
 SHAW. 
 
 Each pink sends forth its choicest sweet 
 Aurora's warm embrace to meet. 
 
 MRS. M. ROBINSON 
 
MINT — LE rUCE. 185 
 
 MINT. 
 
 The medicinal properties of this herb were formerly held 
 in such high estimation, that the plant became the emblem 
 of virtue. 
 
 Virtue only makes our bliss below. 
 
 POPE. 
 
 Then rubb'd it o'er with newly-gather'd mint, 
 A wholesome herb, that breathed a grateful scent. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 LETTUCE. 
 
 It is fabled, that after the death of Adonis, Venus ia.d 
 upon a bed of lettuce. 
 
 Fat colworts, and comforting purseline. 
 Cold lettuce, and refreshing rosemarine. 
 
 SFENSEH. 
 
 And now let lettuce, with its healthful sleep. 
 Make haste, which of a tedious long disease 
 The painful loathings cures. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 
I8fi LUPiW. -GUELDER-ROSE. 
 
 LUPIN. 
 
 The ancients named this plant Lupinus, from Lupws, 
 a wolf, on account of its voracious nature, which is auch 
 that it draws in all the nourishment of the soil to feed its 
 own growth, and consequently, destroys other vegetation ; 
 but in doing so it forms an excellent manure for poor and 
 foul lands. 
 
 Tristisque lupini 
 
 Sustuleris fraeiles calamos. 
 
 Where stalks of lupins grew, 
 
 Th' ensuing season, in return, may bear 
 The bearded product of the golden yeas. 
 
 DRVDKN. 
 
 GUELDER-ROSE. 
 
 Trris cold-coloured, abortive flower is made to reprei^ent 
 he age which bani'ihes gaiety and warnr desire 
 
 The snow-ball which eclipses 
 The white bosom of Venus. 
 
MULBERRY-TREE. 187 
 
 Her silver globes, light as the foamy surf 
 That the wind severs from the broken wave. 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 After summer, evermore succeeds 
 
 The barren winter, with his nipping cold. 
 
 SHAKSPEAEE. 
 
 And on this forehead, (where your verse has said 
 The loves delighted, and the graces play'd,) 
 Insulting age will trace his cruel way, 
 And leave sad marks of his destructive sway. 
 
 PRIOR. 
 
 THE MULBERRY-TREE. 
 
 Pliny observes, that the mulberry-tree was esteemed the 
 wisest of all the trees, because it never expanded its buds 
 until all fear of frost was past, and hence the origin of 
 the emblem, Wisdom. 
 
 -The green leaf 
 
 Which feeds the spinning worm. 
 
 And that old mulberry that shades the court 
 Has been my joy from very childhood up. 
 
 H. KIKKE WHITE 
 
188 KOX-GLOVE. 
 
 Pbonounce him blest, my muse, whom wisdom guides 
 In her own path to her own heavenly seat ; 
 Through all the storms his soul securely glides, 
 Nor can the tempest, nor the tides 
 That rise and roar around, supplant his steady feet. 
 
 WATTS. 
 
 THE FOX-GLOVE. 
 
 Explore the fox-glove's freckled bell. 
 
 MRS. CHARLOTTE SMITH. 
 
 The light down which covers the stalks of this plant, 
 induced the poets to make it the emblem of youth. 
 
 Youth, ah stay, prolong delight. 
 
 Close thy pinions stretch'd for flight ; 
 
 Youth disdaining silver hairs. 
 
 Autumn's frowns, and winter's cares, 
 
 Dwell'st thou but in dimple sleek. 
 
 In vernal smiles, and summer's cheek? 
 
 On spring's ambrosial lap thy hands unfold. 
 
 They blossom fresh with hope, and all thy touch is gdi 
 
 lOVIBONU. 
 
ELDER — LEMON. 189 
 
 THE ELDER. 
 
 This native tree, which forms the dispensary of the 
 English peasantry, seems zealous in their service, for it 
 is so tenacious of life, that it thrives not only in swampy 
 grounds, wet ditches, arid and sterile banks, but it grows 
 also on the ruins of old towers, and is frequently seen 
 self-planted on the trunks of decaying trees. 
 
 There the favourite elder was planted, 
 Whose wide-extending branches shelter'd 
 The early plants of the rustic garden, 
 Whilst its umbels of faint-smelling flowers 
 Afforded them their only cosmetic, 
 And its purple berries their only wine. 
 Its first young buds form'd their only pickle; 
 Its pithy stalks their children's only toy. 
 
 THE LEMON. 
 
 This fragrant plant, whose fruit imparts such an agree- 
 »ble relish to the board and the bowl, we present as the 
 emblem of zest, and should our pages give a similar zest 
 for a novel and innocent amusement, we shall deem qui 
 labours most pleasingly rewarded. 
 
190 ACANTHUS. 
 
 Bear me, Pomona, 
 To where the lemon and the piercing iime, 
 With the deep orange, glowing through the green, 
 Their lighter glories blend. 
 
 Nor be the citron. Media's boast, unsung. 
 
 Shakp-tasted citron Median climes produce, 
 Bitter the rind, but generous the juice; 
 A cordial fruit. 
 
 THE ACANTHUS. 
 
 The Acanthus is found in hot countries, along the shores 
 of great rivers. 
 
 It grows freely in our climate; and Pliny assures us 
 that it IS a garden herb, and is admirably adapted for 
 ornament and embellishment. The ancients tastefully 
 adorned their furniture, vases, and most costly attire, with 
 its elegant leaves. And Virgil says, that the robe of Helen 
 was bordered with a wreath of acanthus in rehef. 
 
 I'his beautiful model of the arts has become their em. 
 blem ; and he will be talented indeed, who shall produce 
 any thing to excel its richness. If any obstacle resists 
 the growth of the acanthus, it seems to struggle to over- 
 come it, and to vegetate with renewed vigour. So genius, 
 when acted upon by resistance or opposition, redoubles itH 
 attempts to overthrow every impediment. 
 
ACANTHUS. 19. 
 
 It is said that the architect, Callimach, passing near the 
 lomb of a young maiden who had died a few days before 
 the time appointed for her nuptials, moved by tenderness 
 and pity, approached to scatter some flowers on her tomb 
 Another tribute to her memory had preceded his. Her 
 nurse had collected the flowers which should have decked 
 her on her wedding-day ; and, putting them with the mar- 
 riage veil, in a little basliet, had placed it near the grave 
 upon a plant of acanthus, and then covered it with a tile 
 In the succeeding spring the leaves of the acanthus grew 
 round the basket ; but, being stayed in their growth by 
 the projecting tile, they recoiled and surmounted its ex- 
 tremities. Callimach, surprised by this rural decoration, 
 which seemed the work of the Graces in tears, conceived 
 the capital of the Corinthian column, a magnificent orna- 
 ment, still used and admired by the whole civilized world. 
 
 -The roof 
 
 Of thickest covert waf inwoven shade ; 
 
 Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
 
 Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side 
 
 Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub. 
 
 Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower. 
 
 Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine, 
 
 Rear'd high their flourish'd heads between, and wrought 
 
 Mosaic ; underfoot the violet, 
 
 Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay, 
 
 Broider'd the ground, more colour 'd than with stone, 
 
 Of costliest emblem. 
 
 „ PARADISE LOST. 
 
 lo 
 
193 UK TREE.— VERVAIN. 
 
 THE FIR-TREE. 
 
 The fir-tree rears its head upon the loftiest mountains 
 and in the coldest regions of the earth, without the aid of 
 man. The resinous juices of this tree defy the rigorous 
 frost to rjngeal its sap, while its filiform leaves are well 
 adapted to resist the impetuous winds, which beat with 
 violence on the lofty situations where fir-trees are found. 
 
 Towering firs in conic forms arise, 
 
 And with a pointed spear divide the skies. 
 
 THE VERVAIN. 
 
 It were well if botanists would attach a moral idea to 
 every plant they describe ; we might then have an uni- 
 versal dictionary of the Sentiment of Flowers — generally 
 understood, — which would be handed down from age to 
 age, and might be renewed, without changing their cha- 
 racters, every succeeding spring. 
 
 The altars of Jupiter are overthrown ; those ancient fo- 
 rests, that witnessed the mysteries of Druidism, exist no 
 longer ; and the pyramids of Egypt shall one day disap- 
 pear, buried like the sphinx, in the sands of the desert ■ 
 but the lotus and the acanthus shall ever flower upon the 
 
VERVAIN. 193 
 
 banks of the Nile, the mistietoe will always flourish upon 
 the oak, and the vervain upon the barren knolls. 
 
 Vervain was used by the ancients for divers kinds of 
 divinations ; they attributed to it a thousand properties , 
 among others, that of reconciling enemies ; and when the 
 Roman heralds at arms were despatched with a message 
 of peace or war to other nations, they wore a wreath of 
 vervain. 
 
 The Druids held this plant in great veneration, and, 
 before gathering it, they made a sacrifice to the earth. 
 Probably they used it for food. 
 
 We are told that the worshippers of the sun, in per- 
 forming their services, held branches of vervain in their 
 hands. Venus Victorious wore a crown of myrtle inter- 
 woven with vervain, and the Germans to this day give a 
 hat of vervain to the nfew married bride, as putting her 
 under the protection of that goddess. Pliny also tells us 
 that it was made use of by the Druids in casting lots, m 
 drawing omens, and in other magical arts. 
 
 She night-shade strows to work him ill. 
 Therewith the vervain and her dill, 
 That hindereth witches of their will. 
 
 DRAYTON. 
 
 A WREATH of vervain heralds wear. 
 Amongst our garlands named. 
 
 Being sent that dreadful news to bear, 
 Otfensive war proclaim'd. 
 
 DKAVTON. 
 
194 LILAC 
 
 Some scattering pot-herbs here and the.'e he found, 
 
 Which, cultivated with his daily care. 
 
 And bruised with vervain, were his daily fare. 
 
 DEYTJEN. 
 
 THE LIL-^C. 
 
 The lilac is consecrated to the first emotion of love 
 DBcause nothing is more delightful than the sensations H 
 produces by its first appearance on the return of spring. 
 The freshness of its verdure, the pliancy of its tender 
 branches, the abundance of its flowers, — their beauty, 
 though brief and transient, — their delicate and varied 
 colours; — all their qualities summon up those sweet emo- 
 tions which enrich beauty, and impart to youth a grace 
 divine. 
 
 Albano was unable to blend, upon the palette which love 
 had confided to him, colours sufficiently soft and delicate 
 to convey the peculiarly beautiful tints which adorn the 
 human face in early youth ; 
 
 The velvet down that spreads tlic check; 
 
 Van Spaendock himself laid down his pencil in despair 
 before a bunch of lilac. Nature seems to have aimed to 
 produce massy bjnchos of these flowers, every part of 
 which should astonish by its delicacy and its variety. The 
 gradation of colour, from the purple bud to the almost 
 onlourloj.-' flowers, is .he least charm of these beaufifu) 
 
HOLLY. 195 
 
 groups, around wh.ch the light plays and produces a thou- 
 sand shades, which all blending together in the same tint, 
 forms that matchless harmony which the painter despairs 
 to imitate, and the most indifferent observer delights to 
 behold. What labour has Nature bestowed to create this 
 fragile shrub, which seems only given for the gratification 
 of the senses I What an union of perfume, of freshness, 
 of grace, and of delicacy ! What variety in detail! What 
 beauty as a whole ! 
 
 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 
 
 Which hue she most approved, she chose them all. 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 Beautv's rosy ray 
 In flying blushes richly play ; 
 Blushes of that celestial flame 
 Which lights the cheek of virgin shame. 
 
 ANACKBON. 
 
 THE HOLLY. 
 
 In that delightful work, Jesse's Gleanings in Natural 
 
 History, the eloquent author, speaking of the holly, says, 
 
 — "The economy of trees, plants, and vegetables, is a 
 
 curious subject of inquiry, and in all of them we ma) 
 
 18* 
 
196 HYACINTH 
 
 trace the hand of a beneficent Creato.' ; the same care 
 which he has bestowed on his creatures is extended to 
 plants ; this is remarkably the case with respect to hollies : 
 the edges of the leaves are provided with strong sharp 
 spines, as high up as they are within the reach of cattle ; 
 above that height the leaves are generally smooth, the 
 protecting spines being no longer necessary. 
 
 O READER ! hast thou ever stood to see 
 
 The holly tree? 
 
 The eye that contemplates it well perceives 
 
 Its glossy leaves ; 
 
 Order'd by an Intelligence so wise 
 
 As might confound an atheist's sophistries. 
 
 Below a circling fence, its leaves are seen 
 
 Wrinkled and keen ; 
 
 No grazing cattle through their prickly round 
 
 Can reach to wound ; 
 
 But, as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
 
 Smooth and unarm'd the pointless leaves appear. 
 
 SOUTHBS. 
 
 THE HYACINTH. 
 
 The following address to the hyacinth is extracted from 
 Tail's Magazine. The lines were sent to the editor of that 
 excellent periodical as the production of a young country 
 
HYACINTH. 197 
 
 girl in the north of Ireland. We agree with him in say- 
 ing (if that statement be true), that they are indeed more 
 • than wonderful. They refer to the fate of Hyacinthus, 
 who was Itilled by a quoit while playing at that game 
 with Apollo. 
 
 Oh ! mournful, graceful, sapphire-coloured flower, 
 That keep'st thine eye for ever fix'd on earth 1 
 Gentle and sad, a foe thou seem'st to mirth — 
 
 What secret sorrow makes thee thus to lower? 
 
 Perhaps 'tis that thy place thou canst not change, 
 And thou art pining at thy prison'd lot ; 
 But oh I where couldst thou find a sweeter spot, 
 
 Wert thou permitted earth's wide bounds to range? 
 
 In pensive grove, meet temple for thy form. 
 Where, with her silvery music, doth intrude 
 The lucid stream, where nought unkind or ruJe 
 
 Durst break of harmony the hallow'd charm, 
 
 fhy beauties, all unseen by vulgar eyes, 
 Sol, in his brightness, still delights to view; 
 He clothes thy petals in his glorious hue. 
 
 To show how much of old he did thee prize. 
 
 And what the sighing zephyr hither brings, 
 To wander in these muse-beloved dells — 
 It is to linger 'midst thy drooping bells 
 
 While vain repentance in thine ear he sings. 
 
198 HYACINTH. 
 
 And, sweetest flowei methinks thou hast forgiven 
 Him who unconsciously ciid cause thy death ; 
 For, soon as thou hadst yielded up thy breath. 
 
 With grief for thee his frantic soul was riven. 
 
 And thou wert placed where mingle wave and breeze 
 Their dreamy music with the vocal choir. 
 Whose varied harmonies might seem a lyre, 
 
 Striving with dying notes thy soul to please — 
 
 Where winter ne'er ungraciously presumes 
 To touch thee with his sacrilegious hand — 
 Where thy meek handmaids are the dews so bland-- 
 
 Where Spring around thee spreads her choicest blo( nfis. 
 
 'Tis not revenge nor pining wretchedness, 
 Thy head in pensive attitude that throws — 
 'Tis extreme sensibility, that shows 
 
 In gesture, gratitude speech can't express. 
 
 E'en while I pay this tributary praise, 
 
 Methinks a deeper tinge thy cheek doth flush ; 
 What, lovely one, need make thee thus to blush 
 
 And turn r.way from my enraptured gaze! 
 
 No, gentle Hyacinth, thou canst not grieve, 
 When things so lovely worship in thy train — 
 The sun, the wind, the wave — Oh ! it were vam 
 
 To sum the homa£'3 which thou dost receive. 
 
L.iURB;L. 199 
 
 1'he sad and irjsitig poetess }'ou cheer — 
 At sight of Ihce Mera'ry's electric wings 
 Waft to her soul lonsz, lono- forgotten things — 
 
 Loved voices '.ush'd in death she seems to hear. 
 
 THE LAUREL. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans consecrated crowns of laurel 
 to glory of every kind. With them they adorned the 
 brows of warriors and of poets, of orators and philoso- 
 phers, of the vestal virgin and the emperor. 
 
 This beautiful shrub is found in abundance in the island 
 of Delphos, where it grows naturally on the banks of the 
 river Peneus. There, its aromatic and evergreen foliage 
 is borne up by its aspiring branches to the height of the 
 loftiest trees ; and it is alleged that by a secret and pecu- 
 liar power they avert the thunderbolt from the shores they 
 beautify. The beautiful Daphne was the daughter of the 
 river Peneus. She was beloved by Apollo ; but, preferring 
 virtue to the love of the most eloquent of gods, she fled, 
 fearing that the eloquence of his speech should lead her 
 from the paths of virtue. Apollo pursued her; and as he 
 caught her, the nymph invoked the aid of her father, and 
 was changed into the laurel. 
 
 In our free land, where letters are so extensively culti- 
 vated, they who succeed in exciting popular favour meet 
 
200 FLAX. 
 
 with more remuneration than in ancient days ; but how fevi 
 have been honoured so highly as their merits demand, 
 until the last debt of nature has been paid, and then the 
 marble bust, wreathed with bay, is raised to immortalize 
 his fame, when his ears are become deaf to praise. He 
 seldom receives his honours due while he enjoys the beau- 
 ties of tl>is terrestrial globe. 
 
 The bard his glory ne'er receives, 
 
 Where summer's common flowers are seen. 
 
 But winter finds it, when she leaves 
 The laurel only green ; 
 
 And Time, from that eternal tree, 
 
 Shall weave a wreath to honour thee. 
 
 CLARE. 
 
 THE FLAX-FLOWER. 
 
 The utility of this plant and its connection with everv 
 kind of adornment in apparel, from the earliest ages of 
 the world, richly entitle it to a place in the "Poetry c 
 Flowers." Mary Howitt thus celebrates its praises, — 
 
 Oh, the little flax-flower, 
 
 It groweth on the htll. 
 And, be the breeze awalce or sleep, 
 
 It never standeth still. 
 
FLAX. • 201 
 
 it groweth, and it groweth last; 
 
 One day it is a seed, 
 And then a little grassy blade, 
 
 Scarce better than a weed. 
 But then out comes the flax-flower, 
 
 As blue as is the sky; 
 And "'tis a dainty little thing!" 
 
 We say, as we go by. 
 
 An, 'tis a goodly little -thing. 
 
 It groweth for the poor. 
 And many a peasant blesses it. 
 
 Beside his cottage-door. 
 He thiiiketh how those slender stemsi 
 
 That shimmer in the sun. 
 Are rich for him in web and woof. 
 
 And shortly shall be spun. 
 He thinketh how those tender flowers, 
 
 Of seed will yield him store ; 
 And sees in thought his next-year's cri>| 
 
 Blue shining round his door. 
 
 Oh, the little flax-flower I 
 
 The mother, then says she, 
 " Go pull the thyme, the heath, the feru 
 
 But let the flax-flower be ! 
 It groweth for the children's sake, 
 
 It groweth for our own ; 
 There are flowers enough upon the hill. 
 
 But leave the flax alone! 
 
202 • FL^ A. 
 
 The farmer hath his fields of wheal. 
 Much Cometh to his share ; 
 
 We have this little plot of flax, 
 That we have tilled with care. 
 
 " Our squire he hath the holt and hi)., 
 
 Great halls and noble rent; 
 We only have the flax-field. 
 
 Yet therewith are content. 
 We watch it morji, we watch it night 
 
 And when the stars are out, 
 The good man and the little ones, 
 
 Tliey pace it round about ; 
 For it we wish the sun to shine. 
 
 For it the rain to fall ; 
 Good lack ! for who is poor doth mai* 
 
 Great count of what is small!" 
 
 Oh, the goodly flax-flower I 
 
 !t groweth on the hill. 
 And, oe the breeze awake or sleep, 
 
 It never standeth still ! 
 It seemeth all astir with life, 
 
 As if it loved to thrive ; 
 As if it had a merry heart 
 
 Within its stem alive ! 
 Then fair befall the flax-field, 
 
 And may the kindly showers, 
 Give strength unto its shining stem, 
 
 Give seed unto its flowers I 
 
PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 203 
 
 PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 
 
 This evergreen trailer is a native of Peru, and bears 
 oeautiful lilac-coloured flowers ; and, in the greenhouse, con- 
 tinues in bloom nearly the whole of the year. 
 
 The Orientals say that the perfumes of the heliotrope 
 elevate their souls towards heaven ; it is true that they ex- 
 hilarate us, and produce a degree of intoxication. The sen- 
 sation produced by inhaling them, may, it is said, be renew- 
 ed by imagination, even though years have passed away 
 after the reality was experienced. 
 
 The Countess Eleanora, natural daughter of Christian IV., 
 king of Denmark, who became so notorious by the misfor- 
 tunes, crimes, and exile of Count Ulfeld, her husband, offers 
 to us a striking proof of the power of perfumes on the 
 memory. This princess, at the age of thirteen, had become 
 attached to a young man to whom she was subsequently af- 
 fianced. This young man died in the castle where they 
 were making preparations for the marriage. Elenora, in 
 despair, wished to take a long last look at the object of her 
 love; and, if alive, to bid a last adieu. She was conducted 
 into the chamber where he had just expired. The body was 
 already placed on a bier, and covered with rosemary. The 
 spectacle made such a deep impression upon tlie affianced 
 maiden, that though she afterwards exhibited courage equal 
 to her misfortunes, she never could breathe the perfume ol 
 rosemary without falling into the most frightful convulsions. 
 
 The celebrated Jussieu, while botanising in the Cordilleras 
 19 
 
204 PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 
 
 suddenly inhaled the most exquisite perfumes. Ho expect 
 ed to find some brilliantly coloured flowers, but only per- 
 ceived some pretty clumps of an agreeable green, bearing 
 flowers of a pale blue colour. On approaching nearer, he 
 observed that the flowers turned gently towards the sun, 
 which they appeared to regard with reverential love. Struck 
 with this peculiar disposition, he gave the plant the name 
 of heliotrope, which is derived from two Greek words, sig- 
 nifying " sun," and " I turn." The learned botanist, de- 
 lighted with this charming acquisition, collected a quantity 
 of the seeds, and sent them to the Jardin du Roi, at Paris, 
 where it was first cultivated in Europe. The ladies col- 
 lected it with enthusiasm, — placed it in their richest vases, 
 — called it the flower of love, — and received with indiffer- 
 ence every bouquet in which their favourite flower was 
 not to be found. 
 
 An anonymous writer has made it emblematical of flat- 
 tery, as it is said that when a cloud obscures the sky, it 
 droops its head. We would rather suppose that, like the 
 lover, whose heart is sad when absent from his mistress, 
 so the heliotrope droops because it is deprived of the cheer- 
 ing rays of the sun that it seems to adore. 
 
 There is a flower whose modest eye 
 Is turn'd with looks of light and love, 
 Who breathes her softest, sweetest sigh, 
 Whene'er the sun ^s bright above. 
 
VINE. 205 
 
 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 i 
 
 THE VINE. 
 
 The grateful juice of the- vine has been given to cheet 
 the heart of man ; and though, alas ! it is too often used 
 as the excitement to unseemly revelry, where men degrade 
 themselves to the condition of the brutes, over which they 
 were created lords, we confess we like to see 
 
 Depending vines the shelving caverwa screen, 
 With purple clusters blushing through the green. 
 
 FOPK. 
 
 But oh I let vines luxuriant roli 
 Their blushing tendrils round the bowl. 
 
 ANACREON 
 
•-'00 WHITE DAISY. 
 
 THE WHITE DAISY. 
 
 In the by-gone clays of chivalry, when a lady wished 
 to intimate to her lover that she was undecided whether 
 sne would accept his offer or not, she decorated lier head 
 with a frontlet of white daisies, which was understood to 
 say, " I will think of it." 
 
 An unknown poet has sung the daisy's offering in \erses 
 so agreeable to our ears that we must even let our readers 
 share the pleasure. 
 
 Think of the flowers cuU'd for thee, 
 
 In vest of silvery white. 
 When other flowers perchance you see, 
 
 Nut fairer, but more bright. 
 
 Sweet roses and carnations gay, 
 
 Have but a summer's reign ; 
 I mingle with the buds of May, 
 
 Join drear December's train. 
 
 A simple unassuming flower, 
 
 'Mid showers and storms I bloom 
 
 I'll decorate thy lady's bower. 
 And blossom on thy tomb. 
 
WEEPING WILLOW. 207 
 
 THE WEEPING WILIiOW 
 
 Bv the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, wlion we re' 
 membered thee, O Sion ! As for our harps we hanged them up 
 upon the willows that are therein. psalms. 
 
 We cannot conceive a more touching appeal to human 
 sympathy, than the mournful complaints of the daughters 
 of Jerusalem. Their Babylonish conquerors having led 
 them away captive, required of them " a song, and melody 
 in their heaviness ; ' Sing us one of the songs of Sion.' " 
 But the hearts of her children were surcharged with grief, 
 and they asked, " How shall we sing the Lord's song in 
 a strange land 1" They were oppressed with sorrow, — 
 they were bowed down with affliction, — they " hanged 
 their harps upon the willows, and sat down and wept." 
 Is not then the weeping willow a sacred emblem of mel- 
 ancholy ? 
 
 The weeping willow is a native of the east, and is greatly 
 admired for its drooping pendulous branches, waving over 
 our lakes and streams. 
 
 It grows wild on the coast of Persia, and is com-non 
 in China. The celebrated specimen in Pope's garden at 
 Twickenham, is said to have been the first introduced into 
 England ; but this we believe to be erroneous. The poet 
 chanced to be present on the opening of a package which 
 came from Spain, and observing that the sticks had some 
 vegetation, fancied they might produce something which 
 did not usually grow in England. With this idea he planted 
 
208 SORROWFUL GERANIUM. 
 
 a cutting, from whence sprang the parent tree of mani 
 ol the finest and most admired specimens. 
 
 My gentle harp ! once more I waken 
 The sweetness of thy slumbering strain ; 
 
 In tears our last farewell was taken, 
 And now in tears we meet again. 
 
 No light of joy hath o'er thee broken, 
 
 But — like those harps, whose heav'nly skill 
 
 Of slavery, dark as thine, hath spoken — 
 Thou hang'st upon the willows still. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 Thus o'er our streams do eastern willows lean 
 In pensive guise ; whose grief-inspiring shade 
 Love has to melancholy sacred made. 
 
 DELILLE. 
 
 THE SORROWFUL GERANIUM. 
 
 This charming geranium, like a melancholy spirit, shuns 
 the light of day ; but it enchants those who cultivate it by 
 the delightful perfumes it exhales. Its appearance is som- 
 bre, though unaffected ; and, altogether, it forms a striking 
 contrast to the scarlet geranium, which is the emblem ot 
 stupidity. 
 
WHITE POPPY. 206 
 
 Few know that elegance of soul refined 
 Whose soft sensation feels a quicker joy 
 From melanclioly's scenes, than the dull pride 
 Of tasteless solendour and magnificence 
 Can e'er afTord. 
 
 WARTON 
 
 THE WHITE POPPY. 
 
 An insipid oil is expressed from the grains of the white 
 poppy, which calnis the senses and provokes sleep. Would 
 not the unhappy lover, who dreads that the object of his 
 love has no reciprocal feeling, thus express himself in the 
 words of H. Smith? — 
 
 O gentle sleep! 
 Scatter thy drowsiest poppies from above; 
 And in new dreams, not soon to vanish, bless 
 
 My senses 
 
 Yea, gladly would he become insensible to the agonies 
 of unrequited love 
 
 The palace of Somnus, who presided over sleep, was 
 represented as a dark cave, into which the sun's rays never 
 penetrated ; and at the entrance grew poppies and other 
 somniferous herbs ; the Dreams watched over his couch, 
 attended by Morpheus, his prime minister, holding a vase 
 in one hand, and grasping poppies in the other. 
 
aiO I'flEASANT'S EYli 
 
 TiiERL poppies while, and viole*. 
 Alcippus on the altar sets 
 Of quiet sleep ; and weaves a crown 
 To bring the gentle godhead down. 
 
 FEACASTORO. 
 
 THE PHEASANT'S EYE; OR FLOS ADONIS. 
 
 Adonis was killed by a boar when hunting. Venus 
 who had quitted the pleasures of Cythereus for his sake 
 shed many tears at his melancholy fate. The fable tells 
 us that these were not lost, but mingling with the blood 
 of Adonis, the earth received them, and forthwith sprang 
 up a light plant covered with purple flowers. Brilliant and 
 transient flowers ; alas ! too faithful emblems of the plea- 
 sures of life ! you were consecrated by the same beauty 
 as the symbol of sorrowful remembrances. 
 
 Look, in the garden blooms tho flos adonis, 
 And memory keeps of him who rashly died, 
 Thereafter changed by Venus, weeping, to this flower. 
 
 ANON. 
 
 By this the boy, that by her side lay kill'd. 
 Was melted like a vapour from her sight; 
 And in his blood, that on the ground lay spill'd, 
 A purple flower sprang up, ihequer'd with white. 
 
 SH.\KSPEAHE 
 
THE DIAL OF FLOVv ERS. 
 
 Cektain plants possess the remarkable property of 
 opening and shutting their flowers at particular seuso s. 
 Some, for example, open them all day, while others ex- 
 pand them only in the evening. There are likewise noc- 
 tiflorous plants, which close their flowers in the morning. 
 
 In the above cases the degree of heat might be alleged 
 as the exciting cause of the expansion of flowers ; but this 
 will not hold good with regard to other vegetables, which 
 open and shut their blossoms at stated hours of the day, or 
 at certain distances of time before change of weather. In 
 these latter cases we must look for some other cause of 
 the phenomenon, perhaps to some electrical changes in the 
 state of the atmosphere. 
 
 Linnosus has enumerated forty-six flowers which possess 
 this kind of sensibility : he divides them into three classes. 
 I. Meteoric Flowers, which less accurately observe the 
 hour of folding, but are expanded sooner or later accord- 
 ing to the cloudiness, moisture, or pressure of the atmo- 
 sphere. 2. Tropical Flowers, that open in the morning 
 and close before evening every day, but the hour of their 
 expanding becomes earlier or later as the length of the 
 day increases or decreases. 3. Equinoctial Flowers, which 
 open at a certain and exact hour of the day, and for tlie 
 most part close at another determinate hour. 
 
 (211) 
 
212 DIAL OF FLOWERS 
 
 THE DIAL OF FLOWERS.* 
 
 . MRS. HEMANS. 
 
 'TwAS a lovely thought to mark the hours 
 
 As they floated in light away, 
 By the opening and the folding /lowers 
 
 That laugh to the summer's day. 
 
 Thus had each moment its own rich hue ; 
 
 And its graceful cup or bell, 
 In whose colour'd vase might sleep the dew, 
 
 Like a pearl in an ocean-shell. 
 
 To such sweet signs might the time have flow d 
 
 In a golden current on, 
 Ere from the garden, man's first abode, 
 
 The glorious guests were gone. 
 
 So might the days have been bpghtly told — 
 
 Those days of song and dreams. 
 When shepherds gather'd their flocks of old, 
 
 By the blue Arcadian streams. 
 
 So in those isles of delight, that rest 
 
 Far off in a breezeless main, 
 Which many a bark with a weary guest, 
 
 Hath sought, but still in vain. 
 
 •This dial is said to have been formed by Linneeus. It marked 
 llie hours by the opening and closing, at regular intervale, of the 
 flowers arranged in it 
 
DIAL OF FLOWERS 213 
 
 Yet IS not life, in its real flight, 
 
 Mark'd thus — even thus — on earth. 
 By the closing of one hope's delight, 
 
 And another's gentle birth? 
 
 Oh ! let us live, so that flower by flower, 
 
 Shutting in turn, may leave 
 A lingerer still for the sun-set hour, 
 
 A. charm for the shaded eve. 
 
 ON FLORA'S HOROLOGE. 
 
 C. SMITH. 
 
 In every copse and shelter'd dell, 
 Unveil'd to the observant eye. 
 
 Are faithful monitors, who tell 
 
 How pass the hours and seasons by. 
 
 The green-robed children of the Spring 
 
 Will mark the periods as they pass; 
 Mingle with leaves Time's feather'd wing, 
 
 And bind with flowers his silent glass- 
 Mark where transparent waters glide. 
 
 Soft flowing o'er their tranquil bed ; 
 There, cradled on the dimpling tide, 
 
 NymphaBa rests her lovely head. 
 
 But, conscious of the earliest beam, 
 
 She rises from her humid nest, 
 
 And sees reflected in the stream 
 
 The virgin whiteness of her breast. 
 20 
 
211 DIAL OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Till the bright Day-star to the west 
 Declines, in Ocean's surge to lave ; 
 
 Then, folded in her modest vest, 
 She slumbers on the rocking wave. 
 
 See Hieracium's various tribe 
 
 or plumy seed and radiate flowers : — 
 
 The course of Time their blooms describe. 
 And wake or sleep appointed hours. 
 
 Broad o'er its imbricated cup 
 
 The Goatsbeard spreads its golden rays 
 But shuts its cautious petals up, 
 
 Retreating from the noontide blaze. 
 
 Pale as a pensive cloister'd nun, 
 The Bethlem Star her face unveils. 
 
 When o'er the mountain peers the Sun, 
 But shades it from the vesper gales. 
 
 Among the loose and arid sands 
 The humble Arenaria creeps ; 
 
 Slowly the Purple Star expands. 
 But soon within its calyx sleeps. 
 
 And those small bells so lightly ray'd 
 With young Aurora's rosy hue, 
 
 Are to the noontide Sun display'd. 
 But shut their plaits against the dew. 
 
DIAL OF FLOWERS. 21A 
 
 On upland slopes the shepherds mark 
 
 The hour, when, as the dial true, 
 Cichorium to the towering Lark 
 
 Lifts her soft eyes, serenely blue. 
 
 And thou, "Wee crimson-tipped flower," 
 
 Gatherest thy fringed mantle round 
 Thy bosojm, at the closing hour, 
 
 When nightdrops bathe the turfy grouni 
 
 Unlike Silene, who declines 
 
 The garish noontide's blazing light; 
 Hut when the evening crescent shines, 
 
 Gives all her sweetness to the night 
 
 Tlius in each flower and sirjiple l)ell, 
 
 That in our path betrodden lie, 
 Are sweet remembrancers, who tell 
 
 Jlow fast their winged mjmento fty. 
 
THE DIRGE OP FLOWERS 
 
 MKS. HEMANS. 
 
 Bri:<g flowers to the captive's lonely cell, — 
 They have tales of the joyous woods to tell, 
 Of the free blue streams and the glowing sky. 
 And 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 flowers, wild flowerj 
 
 Bring flowers, fresh flowers, for the bride to wear, 
 
 They were born to blush on her shining hair: 
 
 She is leaving the home of her childish mirth, 
 
 She has 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, o'er the bier to shed, — 
 A crown for the brow of the early dead. 
 For this through its leaves has the white Rose burst, 
 For this in the woods was the Violet nurst: 
 Though they smile in vain for what once was ours, 
 They are love's last gift — bring flowers, pule flowers. 
 
 Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer, — 
 
 They are nature's ofl^'ring, their place is there : 
 
 They speak of hope to the fainting heart ; 
 
 With the voice of promise they come and part ; 
 
 They sleep in dust through the wintry hours ; 
 
 Then break forth in glory: — bring flowers, bright flowers 
 
 (210) 
 
DIRGE OF FLOWERS 217 
 
 AUTUMN FLOWERS. 
 
 STRICKLAND. 
 
 Flowbrs of the closing year ! 
 
 Ye bloom amidst decay, 
 And come like friends sincere. 
 When wintry storms appear. 
 
 And all have pass'd away 
 That clothed gay spring's luxuriant bowers, 
 With garlands meet for sunny hours. 
 
 When Rose and Lily fade. 
 
 And later Amaranths fail. 
 And leaves in grove arid glade 
 Assume a russet shade. 
 
 And shiver in the gale. 
 Or, withering, strew the chilly plain 
 With blighted hopes of summer's reign . — 
 
 'Tis then, when sternly lours, 
 
 O'er Nature's changing face. 
 Dark clouds and drifting showers. 
 Ye come, ye come, sweet flowers ! 
 
 With meek and touching grace ; 
 And o'er the parting season's wing 
 A wreath of lingering beauty fling. 
 
 The Harebell, bright and blue, 
 
 That loves the dingle wild, 
 20* 
 
218 DIRGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 In whose cerulean hue 
 
 Heaven's own blest tint we view, 
 
 On days serene and mild ; 
 How beauteous, like an azure gem, 
 She droopeth from her graceful sterol 
 
 The Foxglove's purple bell, 
 On bank and upland plain ; 
 
 The scarlet Pimpernel ; 
 
 ind Daisy in the dell, 
 That kindly blooms again 
 
 When all her sisters of the spring 
 
 On earth's cold lap are withering. 
 
 The bine-weed, pure and pale, 
 
 That sues to all for aid ; 
 And, when rude storms assail. 
 Her snowy virgin veil 
 
 Doth, like some timid maid. 
 In conscious weakness most secure, 
 Unscathed its sternest shocks endure 
 
 How fair her pendent wreath 
 
 O'er bush and brake is twining .' 
 While meekly there beneath, 
 'Mid fern and blossom'd heath. 
 
 Her lowlier sisters shining. 
 Tinged with the blended hues that streak 
 A slumbering infant's tender cheek 
 
DIRGE OF FLOWERS 219 
 
 And there Vimiria* weaves 
 
 Her light and feathery bowers, 
 'Mid russet-shaded leaves, 
 Where Robin sits and grieves 
 
 Your hasting death, sweet flowers . 
 He sings your requiem all the day, 
 And mourns because ye pass away. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. 
 
 BRYANT. 
 
 The melancholy days are come, 
 
 The saddest of the year. 
 Of wailing winds, and naked woods, 
 
 And meadows brown and sere. 
 Heap'd in the hollows of the grove 
 
 The wither'd leaves lie dead ; 
 They rustle to the eddying gust, 
 
 And to the rabbit's tread. 
 The robin and the wren are flown, 
 
 And from the shrub the jay ; 
 And from the wood-top calls the crow. 
 
 Through all the gloomy day. 
 
 Where are the flowers, the fair young flowera 
 
 That lately sprung and stood 
 In brighter light and softer airs, — 
 
 A beauteous sisterhood? 
 
 • Traveller's jay. 
 
220 DIRGE Of FLOWERS 
 
 Alas ! they all are in their graves : 
 
 The gentle race of flowers 
 Are lying in their lowly beds, 
 
 With the fair and good of ours. 
 The rain is falling where they lie ; 
 
 But the cold November rain 
 Calls not, from out the gloomy earth, 
 
 The lovely ones again. 
 
 The Wind-flower and the Violet, 
 
 They perish'd long ago. 
 And the Wild-rose and the Orchis died 
 
 Amid the summer glow ; 
 But on the hill the Golden-rod, 
 
 And the Aster in the wood, 
 \nd the yellow Sun-flower by the brook 
 
 In autumn beauty stood, 
 Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, 
 
 As falls the plague on men, 
 And the brightness of their smile was gone 
 
 From upland, glade, and glen. 
 
 And now, when comes the calm, mild day, 
 
 As still such days will come, 
 To call the squirrel and the bee 
 
 From out their winter home. 
 When the sound of dropping nuts is hearo, 
 
 Though all the trees are still. 
 And twinkle in the smoky light 
 
 The waters of the rill, 
 
DIRGE OF FLOWERS. S*?! 
 
 The south wind searches for the flowers 
 
 Whose fragrance late he bore, 
 And sighs to find them in the wood 
 
 And by the stream no more. 
 
 And then I think of one who in 
 
 Her youthful beauty died, — 
 The fair, meek blossom, that grew up 
 
 And faded by my side : 
 In the cold moist earth we laid her, wnea 
 
 The forest cast the leaf, 
 A.nd we wept that one so lovely 
 
 Should have a life so brief; 
 Yet not unmeet it was, that one. 
 
 Like that young friend of ours, 
 So gentle and so beautiful, 
 
 Should perish with the flowers. 
 
 TO BLOSSOMS. 
 
 HERKICK. 
 
 Fair pledges of a fruitful tree, 
 Why do ye fall so fast? 
 Your date is not so past. 
 
 But you may stay here yet awhi.e, 
 To blush and gently sm-)e. 
 And go at last 
 
222 DIRGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Wtiat 1 were ye born to be 
 An hour or half's delight, 
 And so to bid good-night ? 
 
 'T was pity Nature brought ye forth 
 Merely to show your worth, 
 And lose you quite. 
 
 But you are lovely leaves, where we 
 May read how soon things have 
 Their end, though ne'er so brave ; 
 
 And alter they have shown their pni 
 Like you, awhile, they glide 
 Into the grave. 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS 
 
 MEZEREON.— Coquette. 
 
 Well, well ! adieu for ever, 
 
 My heart has broken free ; 
 I've brought myself to sever 
 
 My pleasant tie to thee. 
 
 I blame myself for letting thee 
 
 My better angel seem, 
 And forgive thee by forgetting thee. 
 
 As some uneasy dream. 
 
 Farewell ! enjoy the moments 
 
 My rivals will think sweet, 
 And call it sunshine, if you will. 
 
 That brings them to your feet. 
 
 They'll see the shades besettmg thee. 
 
 And learn my lesson yet, 
 To forgive thee by forgetting thee. 
 
 Thou beautiful Coquette ! 
 
 Farewell ! with all thy brilliancy. 
 
 Thy autumn will steal on. 
 And the sear and yellow chronicle 
 
 Will write that it is gone. 
 
 Thy bloom will be forgetting thee 
 
 When brightest it should seem. 
 And go like me forsaking thee, 
 
 Like the color of a dream. 
 
 N. Y. Statesmam. 
 
221 SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS 
 
 ORANGE FLOWERS.— Bridal Festivity. 
 
 Bind the white orange flowers in her hair ; 
 
 Soft be their shadow, soft and somewhat pale, 
 For they are omens. Many anxious years 
 
 Are on the wreath that bends the bridal veil. 
 
 The maiden leaves her childhood and her home. 
 All that the past has known of happy hours. 
 
 Perhaps her happiest ones — well may there be 
 A faint, wan color, in those orange flowers. 
 
 For they are pale as hope, and hope is pale 
 With earnest watching over future years, 
 
 With all the promise of their loveliness. 
 The bride and morning bathe their wreath in tears. 
 
 L. E. Landou 
 
 " I clasped the string of costly pearls. 
 
 The gifts of courtship's hours ; 
 I placed upon her shining curls 
 
 The wreath of orange flowers. 
 O'er her sweet face I flung the veil. 
 
 Yet drew it half aside, 
 That thy triumphant gaze might hail 
 
 The beauty of thy bride." 
 
 PHEASANT'S EYE, OR FLOS ADONIS. 
 
 Ay, do not fear 
 Thou'lt be remembered long. 
 The canker-worm of the heart 
 Is ne'er forgotten. 
 
 Mrs. Hemans. 
 
 COWSLIP. — Attractive Grace. 
 
 I wotTLD bring to thee a cowslip. 
 
 My beautiful, my own, 
 Such a fair and modest flower 
 
 Is like to thee alone. L. H. 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS. 2'^d 
 
 WHITE POPPY.— Sleep of the Heart. 
 
 Sleep, heart of mine, 
 
 Why should love awake thee ? 
 Like yon closed rosebud. 
 
 To thy rest betake thee. 
 Waken, heart of mine. 
 
 From such dangerous Sleeping ; 
 Love's haunted visions 
 
 Surely end in weeping. 
 
 Miss Landon. 
 
 PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE.— Devotion. 
 
 Thoti wast that all to me, love. 
 
 For which my soul did pine ; 
 A green isle in the sea, love, 
 
 A fountain and a shrine. 
 All wreathed round about with flowers — 
 
 And the flowers they all were mine. 
 
 E. A. PoE. 
 
 My love has never sought reward, 'twas joy enough for me 
 To pass my life in loneliness, and cherish thoughts of thee. 
 
 Mrs. Emburt. 
 If to feel the deep devotion 
 Of a pilgrim at a shrine, 
 If to weep with fond emotion 
 Be to love thee, I am thine. 
 If to treasure every token, 
 
 Every look, and every sign, 
 Every light word thou hast spoken 
 Be to love thee, I am thine. 
 
 Mrs. V. E. Howabd 
 
 SENSITIVE PLANT.— Delicate Feelings. 
 
 Hearts 
 
 Whose beatings are too gentle for the world. 
 
 Wills 
 21 
 
t26 SENTIMENT OF F L f> W K R S. 
 
 MYRTLE.— LovK. 
 
 There is to youth one loTe, 
 
 Intense, devoted, pure. 
 One dream, all other dreams above, 
 
 Deep, passionate, and sure. 
 Its colors blend with every joy, 
 
 In every hope are wrought ; 
 It is the load star to the boy, 
 
 His sole engrossing thought. 
 
 J. H. Briuht 
 
 Love will bear 
 What would weigh down an angel's wmg to earth. 
 And still look heavenward. 
 
 L. E. L. 
 
 " It is an ever fixed mark. 
 It is the star of every wandering bark, 
 It looks on tempests and is never shaken.'' 
 
 SHAKSl'tARE. 
 
 We loved : our love was like a chord of music, 
 
 Such as the wind that sweeps a lute draws forth. 
 
 Meeting a passive echo from another. 
 
 It was a vision such as blessed spirits 
 
 Dream of in heaven, their earthly days recallinrr. 
 
 i I A Lit 
 
 The world that I .ad known went by 
 As a vain shadow, on mine eye 
 
 There rose a new and dreamful one, 
 'Twas like the cloudy realms that lie 
 Shadovry and brief, in Autumn's sky 
 
 Before the setting stm. 
 
 Whittiek. 
 
 I loved, as those love who but one image know 
 In the blue sky above, on the bright earth below ; 
 I had not a thought in which thou hadst no part, 
 In the wide world I sought but a place in thy heart. 
 
 L. E. L. 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS, 227 
 
 WEEPING WILLOW.— FoESAicEN. 
 
 A.LL that it hoped, 
 
 My heart believed ; 
 And when most trusting, 
 
 Was most deceived. 
 A shadow has fallen 
 
 O'er my young years ; 
 And hopes, when brightest, 
 
 Are quenched in tears. 
 
 Mrs. Jamieson. 
 
 But thou, where'er thy choice may lead. 
 
 Unmindful of the wreck it makes. 
 One heart shall follow thee with prayer. 
 
 And bless thee while for thee it breaks. 
 
 Da Pontr, 
 
 SORROWFUL GERANIUM.— SoBKOWFUL Remembrances. 
 
 But can I answer back, 
 When all my thoughts are of the changed, the dead — 
 When I can feel no more the radiance shed 
 
 O'er youth and hope's bright track ? 
 Alas ! thy looks but thrill my heart to meet 
 All the past glances that were once so sweet. 
 
 Farewell ! I love thy tone. 
 Thy cheerful smile, as one would love to see 
 The simlight gilding river, hill, and tree, 
 
 Though his own path were lone ; 
 But cast thy bright hopes on another's shrine. 
 They mingle not with drooping thoughts like nunc. 
 
 L. K 
 
 BUITER CUPS.— Riches. 
 
 Thou'lt be so rich that thou shalt dine on pearls 
 Breakfast on rubies, and on guineas sup ,■ 
 
 Yet all thy life the sport of laughing girls. 
 And forced at last to give thi trfnsures up. 
 
2'.i8 SENTIMENT OF FLO \V E R S. 
 
 CROCUS. — Smiles and Cheeefulness. 
 
 Smiles on thy path, oh ! let Joy chase away 
 
 The pale, shrouding cares that have darkened each day ; 
 
 In the gleam of the sunshine let sorrow depart, 
 
 And the smile of the lip be the smile of the heart. 
 
 PRIMROSE.— Youth— Eablt Jots. 
 
 Fair Primroses, ye open lilie bright dreams 
 
 Linked with the early promises of youth, 
 Breathing of Hope's soft hues, her sunny gleams. 
 
 Whispering the heart sweet thoughts of joy and truth. 
 
 L. H 
 
 GENTIAN.— ViRG IN Pride. 
 
 Once again 
 I see her, and she standeth in her pride. 
 With her soft eye enkindled, and her lip 
 Curled m its sweet resentment like a line 
 Of lifeless coral. 
 
 Wir.LM 
 
 LAVENDER.— Mistrust. 
 
 SwEF.TEST smiles may light our v/ay. 
 Yet their sunny beams betray ; 
 Softest voices thrill our heart. 
 And the welcome tones depart; 
 While the love we thought our own 
 Leaves us desolate and lone. 
 
 BLUE BOTTLE CENTENARY.— Delicacy. 
 Such love there is in my heart for thee. 
 
 STOCK.— Lasting BrArTv. 
 
 The charm of person doubly dear beneath the light of mmfl 
 
 Whitttrb 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS. 2aa 
 
 TO AN AUTUMN ROSE. 
 
 Tbll her I love her — ^love her for those eyes, 
 Now soft with feeling, radiant now wi ih mirth, 
 
 iVhioh (like a lake reflecting Autumn skies) 
 Reveal two heavens here to us on earth. 
 
 The one in which their soulful beauty lies. 
 And that wherein such soulfulness has birth. 
 
 yo to my lady ere the season flies, 
 And the rude winter comes thy bloom to blast- 
 Go ! and with all of eloquence thou hast. 
 The burning story of my love discover; 
 And if the theme should faU, alas ! to move her, 
 Tell her, when youth's gay summer flowers are pasi. 
 Like thee, my love will blossom till the last ! 
 
 Charles F. Hoffman. 
 
 Others ! the world lies crumbled at my feet. 
 She was my all, filled up my whole of being. 
 Smiled in the sunshine, walked the glorious earth. 
 Sat in my heart, was the sweet life of life ; 
 The past was hers, I dreamed not of a future 
 That did not wear her image. 
 
 From " Love,' A Play 
 
 " This IS the torch upon the tomb of Love, 
 Where like a sorrowing angel Hope must sit." 
 
 DAISY. — Beauty and Innocence. 
 
 Oh ! beautiful upon his sight. 
 
 Who bears a heart like mine. 
 Doth shine the soft unconscious light 
 
 Of loveliness like thine. 
 
 A wearied man seeks not the smiles 
 
 That brightly beam on all, 
 For dearer are thy simple wiles 
 That only one enthral. 
 
 L.H 
 21* 
 
230 SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS 
 
 DRAGON PLANT.— The Betbayer. 
 
 " Trust not thine own unaided strength 
 To shield thee from his power." 
 
 Be sure 
 You credit anything the sun gives light to, 
 Before a man. Rather believe the sea 
 Weeps for the ruined merchant when he roari 
 Rather the wind courts but the swelling sails 
 When the strong cordage cracks. 
 
 Rather the sun 
 Comes but to kiss the fruit in wealthy Auturei 
 When all falls blasted. If you needs must love, 
 Forced by ill fate, take to your maiden bosoms 
 Two dead, cold aspics, and of them make lovers. 
 They cannot flatter nor forswear ; one kiss 
 Makes a long peace for all. 
 
 Beaumont and Fletches 
 
 JOY. — Enddeing Friendship. 
 
 It will wait, 
 Yea, pause for years before it dares to creep 
 To the embraces of the lonely tower. 
 Or storied pillar, but once twining there 
 It clings for ever, with its rich green wreath 
 Smiling sigainst a sullen sky. 
 
 L. K 
 
 POPPY.— Oblivion. 
 
 Come, press my lips and lie with me 
 Beneath the lonely alder-tree. 
 
 And we will dream a pleasant sleep, 
 And not a care shall dare intrude 
 Upon the marble solitude 
 
 So peaceful and so deep. 
 
 H. K. WiriTB, 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS. 231 
 
 LILACH. — First Impressions of Love. 
 
 Spikit of Love, soon thy rose-plumes wear 
 The blight, and the canker, and sully of care; 
 Falsehood is round thee, Hope leads thee on. 
 Till every hue from thy pinions is gone ; 
 But one bright moment is all thine own, 
 The one ere thy visible presence is known. 
 
 JMlSS IiANHON. 
 
 Ob, world of sweet phantoms, how precious thou art ! 
 
 Miss Landon. 
 Oh, early love, too fair thou art, 
 
 For earth too beautiful and pure ; 
 Fast fade thy day-dreams from the heart, 
 But all thy waking woes endure. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman. 
 
 MOSSES.— Knnui. 
 
 One word may read my heart. 
 And that one word is utter weariness. 
 
 Miss Lan"dor. 
 
 There will come an eve to a longer day, 
 That will find thee tired — but not of play ; 
 When thou wilt lean, as thou leanest now. 
 With drooping limbs and an aching brow, 
 And wish the shadows would faster creep. 
 And long to go to thy quiet sleep. 
 
 WiLira 
 
 TULIP. — Declaration of Love. 
 
 I have a tale for thee ; the Tulip's pride 
 
 Must tell thee with its rich and varied dyes 
 
 My dream of ardent love, for never yet 
 
 Have these same lips had power to whisper thee 
 
 How warm hath been my passion • take my Sower, 
 
 And bid me breathe again. 
 
232 SENTIMENT OF FLOWKRS. 
 
 WATER LILY.— Purity of Heart. 
 Eeautifol water lily ! thou art like 
 A young heart wakening in its purity, 
 To the first breath of Love. Alone, alone ! 
 What hath the mist and darkness of this world 
 To do with its bright leaves ? a snowy gem, 
 It floats upon the bosom of the tide, 
 Like Love upon the course of this dark world ; 
 Trembling and stainless guest ! It looks to Heaven, 
 But from its spotless urn pours out such gifts 
 Of fragrant sweetness, that the passer by 
 Blesses the gentle vision, and beholds 
 In the fair flower an emblem of his dreams 
 Of early purity and silent love. 
 
 L. H. 
 
 VIOLET.— Faithfulness. 
 
 Pale Violets, whose sweet breath has driven 
 Back on my soul the dreams I fain would quell. 
 
 To whose faint perfume such wild power is given 
 To call up visions only loved too well. 
 
 A. A. Watts 
 
 MYOSOTRIS PALUSTRIS.— Forget Me Not. 
 
 " Oh love, forget me not, 
 Wear thou this flower for me upon thy heart ; 
 There is a pure gift in its simple leaves 
 To cheer thy heart in sadness, and to sooth 
 The shadows that are round thee with a love 
 Unchanging, imobtrusive, and devout." L. H 
 
 SNOW-DROP. — CoNsoLATroN — Adventurous Fbiendship. 
 
 Cherish this flower ! is it not, 
 
 Bright comer in adversity. 
 Like one who braves a stormy .ot, 
 
 To bear the torch of Hope to thee? 
 
 L. H 
 
SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS. 833 
 
 WALL-FLOWER. — Fidelity in Misfortune. 
 
 The task befits thee v/ell, 
 
 To gather firmness as the tempests swell 
 Around me still, companion, wife, and friend, 
 To cling in fond endurance to the end. 
 
 Victor Hugo. 
 ALMOND. — Heedlessness. 
 
 I DO commit me to the unfriendly world 
 In the first beauty of my morning prime, 
 With a true heart all heedless of the storm. 
 Yet blushing brightly at the daring chance. 
 
 L. H. 
 
 NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS.— Wealth of true Affection. 
 
 StrcH is my love for thee, a hidden dream 
 
 In the bright day of thy prosperity. 
 Alone its pure and fragrant buds shall gleam 
 
 In the deep night of thine adversity. 
 
 L. H- 
 
 HONEY-SUCKLE.— Sweetness of Disposition. 
 
 Thy gentle smile hath won me, 
 
 Oh, more than beauty's glow 
 Is the soft radiance of the heart. 
 
 Like Heaven upon thy brow. L. H. 
 
 DANDELION.— Obacle. 
 
 " Much the wonder' grew 
 That one small head could carry all he kne-n ." 
 
 Goldsmith 
 
 ROSEMARY. — REMEMBfiANCE. 
 
 Be there one word for a talisman, 
 
 For ever 'twixt thee and me, 
 A spell to conjure pleasant dreams. 
 
 That word is Constancy. 
 
 L. li 
 
234 SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS. 
 
 AMARANTH.— Unfading Love. 
 
 Is not our love unchanging ? lei us wreath 
 The deathless Amaranth to deck our brow, 
 And through all ills of this most stormy life, 
 Lift up our thoughts to that eternal clime 
 Where Love shall put oflF mourning hues, and glow 
 In the bright robes of immortality. 
 
 L. H 
 
 I love thee, yet I do not weep 
 
 That thou art mine no more, 
 I mourn thee, yet my feelings sleep 
 
 In silence as before. 
 A common loss might tears bewail, 
 
 But not a loss like thine, 
 And words might soothe Love's fancied tale. 
 
 But not a love like mine. 
 
 M. J. Jewsetjb-i 
 
 SWEET PEA.— Depabtcbe. 
 
 Let me weave a wreath for thee. 
 
 Of the delicate sweet pea ; 
 
 With its winged petals bright. 
 
 Ever whispering of flight. 
 
 Like thy tone, I must depart, 
 
 Thrilling on my eager heart, 
 
 While thy glad return to me 
 
 Linked with parting still must be. L. IL 
 
 HAREBELL.— Submission. 
 
 I SHALL not blame thee, I shall only die ! 
 
 Hernani. 
 
 LILY. — Purity and Statelikess. 
 PuEE art thou, Lily, in thy robe of snow. 
 Imaging queenly forms that round us glow 
 Beautiful spirits, linked with visions high, 
 Breathing the fragrance of their native sky. 
 
 L. H. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 (3K1 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 A. 
 
 Acacia. — Chaste Love. 
 
 Acalea. — Temperance. 
 
 Acanthus. — The Arts. 
 
 fVchilla Millefolia. — War. 
 
 Aconite-Leaved Crowfoot, or Fair Maids of France — 
 
 Lustre. 
 African Marygoid. — Vulgar Minds. 
 Almond. — Heedlessness. 
 Aloe. — Acute Sorrow or Affliction. 
 Althaea Frutex. — Persuasion. 
 Alyssum, Sweet. — Worth beyond Beauty. 
 Amaranth. — Immortality. 
 Amaryllis. — Pride. 
 Ambrosia. — Love returned. 
 American Cowslip. — You are my Divinity. 
 American Elm. — Patriotism. 
 American Linden. — Matrimony. 
 American Star- Wort. — Welcome to a Stranger. 
 Anemone. — Sickness. 
 Angelica. — Inspiration. 
 Angrec. — Royalty. 
 Apocynum. — Falsehood. 
 
 Apple-Tree Blossom. — Fame speaks him great and good, 
 22 (*"' 
 
238 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Asclepias. — Cure for the Heart-Ache. 
 
 Ash. — Grandeur. 
 
 Ash-Leaved Trumpet-Flower. — Separation. 
 
 Aspen-Tree. — Lamentation. 
 
 Asphodel. — My regrets will follow you to the g;rave. 
 
 Auricula. — Painting. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bachelor's Button. — I with the morning's If 'e have of 
 
 made sport. 
 Balm. — A cure. 
 Balsam. — Impatience. 
 Barberry. — Sourness. 
 Basil. — Hatred. 
 Bav-Borry. — Instruction. 
 Bay-Leaf. — I change but in dying. 
 Bay- Wreath. — The Reward of Merit. 
 Bears'-Breech. — Art. 
 Beech-Tree. — Grandeur. 
 Bell-Flower. — Constancy. 
 Belvidere. — I declare against you. 
 Bee-Orchis. — Industry. 
 Betony. — Surprise. 
 Birch. — Gracefulness. 
 Bird-Cherry. — Hope. 
 Bird's-Foot Trefoil. — Revenge. 
 Bearded Crepis. — Protection. 
 Black Poplar. — Courage. 
 Black-Thorn. —Difficulty. 
 Bladder Senna. — Frivolous Amusements, 
 Blue Bottle Centaury. — Delicacy. 
 Blue Flowered Greek Valerian. — Rupture. 
 Blue Pvramidal Bell-Flower. — Constance. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 239 
 
 Bonus Henricus. — Goodness. 
 
 Borage. — Bluntness or roughness of manners. 
 
 Box. — Stoicism. 
 
 Bramble. — Remorse. 
 
 Branch of Currants. — You please all. 
 
 Branch of Thorns. — Severity or Rigour. 
 
 Bryony. — Prosperity. 
 
 Buck-bean. — Calm Repose. 
 
 Bud of a White Rose. — A Heart ignorant of Lore 
 
 Burgloss. — Falsehood. 
 
 Bundle of Reeds with their Panicles. — Music 
 
 Butter-Cup. — Childishness. 
 
 Butterfly-Orchis. — Gaiety. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabbage. — Profit. 
 
 Calla, J3thiopica. — Feminine modesty. 
 Calycanthus. — Benevolence. 
 Canary Glass. — Perseverance. 
 Candy-Tuft. — Architecture. 
 Canterbury Bell. — Gratitude. 
 Cardamine. — Paternal Error. 
 Catesby's Star- Wort. — Afterthought. 
 Cardinal's Flower. — Distinction. 
 Catalpa Tree. — Beware of the Coquettt 
 Catch-Fly. — Youthful Love. 
 Cedar of Lebanon. — Incorruptible. 
 Cedar Tree. — Strength. 
 Chamomile. — Energy in adversity. 
 Chequered Fritillary. — Persecution. 
 Cherry Tree Blossom. — Spiritual Beauty 
 Chestnut Tree- — Render me Justice. 
 China Aster or Chinese Starwort. — Varietj 
 
240 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 China or Indian Pink. — Aversion. 
 
 China Rose. — Beauty always new. 
 
 Chinese Chrysanthemum. — Cheerfulness under adversity 
 
 Cistus, or Rock Rose. — Popular Favour. 
 
 Coboea. — Gossip. 
 
 Cock's Comb or Crested Amaranth. — Singularity. 
 
 Colchicum or Meadow Saffron. — My best days are paw 
 
 Coltsfoot. — Maternal Care. 
 
 Columbme. — Folly. 
 
 Common Bramble. — Envy. 
 
 Common Cactus or Indian Fig.- I burn. 
 
 Common Fumitory. — Spleen. 
 
 Common Laurel in Flower. — Perfidy 
 
 Common Milfoil. — War. 
 
 Common Reed. — Complaisance. 
 
 Common Thistle. — Importunity. 
 
 Convolvulus Major. — Extinguished Hopes. 
 
 Convolvulus Minor. — Night. 
 
 Corchorus. — Impatience of Absence. 
 
 Coreopsis. — Love at first Sight. 
 
 Coriander. — Concealed Merit. 
 
 Coronilla. — Success crown your wislics. 
 
 Cowslip. — Pensiveness. 
 
 Cranberry. — Hardiness. 
 
 Creeping Cereus. — Horror. 
 
 Crocus. — Cheerfulness. 
 
 Cross of Jerusalem. — Devotion. 
 
 Crown Imperial. — Majesty and Powj: 
 
 Crown of Roses. — Reward of Merit. 
 
 Cuckoo-pink. — Ardour. 
 
 Cyclamen. — Diffidence. 
 
 Cypress. — Despair. 
 
 Cypre.ss Tree. — Death and Eternal Sorrow 
 
t i-ORAL DUJTlOiN ARY. %i\ 
 
 D. 
 
 Daffodil. — Deceitful Hope. 
 
 Dahlia. — Instability. 
 
 Daisy. — Innocence. 
 
 Damask Rose. — Freshness of complex.os. 
 
 Dandelion. — Oracle. 
 
 Daphne Odora. — Sweets to the Sweet. 
 
 Darnel, or Ray Grass. — Vice. 
 
 Dew P'ant. — A Serenade. 
 
 Dittany. — Birth. 
 
 Dogwood, or Cornel-Tree. — Durability. 
 
 Double Daisy. — Participation. 
 
 Dragon Plant. — Snare. 
 
 Dried Flax. — Utility. 
 
 E. 
 
 Ebony. — Blackness. 
 
 Elder. — Zealousness. 
 
 Elm. — Dignity. 
 
 Enchanter's Night Shade. — Witchcraft. 
 
 Endive. — Frugality. 
 
 Eupatorium. — Delay. 
 
 Ever-Flowering Candy-Tuft. — Indifference, 
 
 Evergreen. — Poverty. 
 
 Evergreen Thorn. — Solace in Adversity. 
 
 Everlasting. — Never-ceasing Remembraiicas- 
 
 Everleisting Pea. — Lasting Pleasure. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fennel. — Worthy all praise. 
 Fern. — Fascination. 
 Fig. — Argument. 
 Fig-Tree. — Prolific. 
 
 22* 
 
242 FLORAL DICTlONARir 
 
 Filbert. — Reconciliation. 
 Fir.— Time. 
 Flax. — Fate. 
 
 Flax-Leaved Goldy-Locks. — Tardiness. 
 Flower of an Hour. — Delicate Beauty. 
 Flowering Reed. — Confidence in Heaven. 
 Fly Orchis. — Error. 
 Forget-me-not. — True Love- 
 Fox-Glove. — South. 
 
 Frankincense. — The incense of a Faithful Heart. 
 French Honeysuckle. — Rustic Beauty. 
 French Marygold. — Jealousy. 
 Frog Ophrys. — Disgust. 
 Full Blown Eglantine. — Simplicity. 
 Full Blown Rose. — Beauty. 
 Fuller's Teasel. — Austerity. 
 
 Garden Chervil. — Sincerity. 
 Garden Marygold. — Uneasiness. 
 Garden Ranunculus. — You are rich in attractions- 
 Garden Sage. — Esteem. 
 Genista. — Neatness. 
 Gilly-Flower. — Bonds of affection 
 Glory-Flower. — Glorious Beauty. 
 Goats' Rue. — Reason. 
 Golden Rod. — Precaution. 
 Gorse. — Cheerfulness in Adversity. 
 Grape, Wild. — Charity. 
 Grass. — Submission. 
 
 Great Bindweed. — Dangerous Insinuation. 
 Great Flowered Evening Primrose. — Incoostauc" 
 Guelder Rose. — Winter or Age. 
 
FLOkAL UICTIONARY. 243 
 
 H. 
 
 Hare-Bell. — Delicate and Lonely as this Flowof. 
 
 Hawk- Weed. — Quick-Sightedness. 
 
 Hawthorn. — Hope. 
 
 Hazel. — Reconciliation. 
 
 Heath. — Solitude. 
 
 Helenium. — Tears. 
 
 Hellebore. — Calumny. 
 
 Hemlock. — You will cause my Death. 
 
 Henbane. — Imperfection. 
 
 Heputica. — Coniidence. 
 
 Hibiscus. — Delicate Beauty. 
 
 Hickory. — Glory. 
 
 Hoarhound. — Frozen Kindness. 
 
 Holly. — Foresight. 
 
 Hollyhock. — Fecundity. 
 
 Honesty. — Honesty. 
 
 Honeysuckle. — Bond of Love. 
 
 Hop. — Injustice. 
 
 Hornbeam Tree. — Ornament. 
 
 Horse Chestnut. — Luxuriancy. 
 
 Houstonia. — Content. 
 
 Hoy a. — Sculpture. 
 
 Hundred-Leaved Rose. — Graos. 
 
 Hyacinth. — Play or Game* . 
 
 Hydranger. — Boaster. 
 
 I. 
 
 Iceland Moss. — Health. 
 Ice Plant. — You freeze nw. 
 Indian Cross. — Resignation. 
 Ins. — Message. 
 Ivy. — Fidelity. 
 
244 FLORAL DJCTIONAKV 
 
 J. 
 Japan Rose. — Beauty is your only attraction 
 Jonquil. — Desire. 
 Judas Tree. — Unbelief. 
 Juniper. — Asylum. 
 Justicia. — The Perfection of Female Loveliness. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kennedia. — Mental Beauty. 
 King-Cup. — 1 wish I was rich. 
 
 L. 
 
 Laburnum. — Pensive Beauty. 
 
 Lady's Slipper. — Capricious Beauty. 
 
 Larkspur. — Levity. 
 
 Laurel. — Glory. 
 
 Laurel-Leaved Magnolia. — Dignity. 
 
 Laurestine. — I die if I'm neglected. 
 
 Lavender. — Assiduity. 
 
 Lemon. — Zest. 
 
 Lettuce. — Cold-Hearted. 
 
 Lichen. — Solitude. 
 
 Lilac. — Forsaken. 
 
 Lily of the Valley. — Return of Happiness. 
 
 Lime or Linden Tree. — Conjugal Fidelity. 
 
 Live Oak. — Liberty. 
 
 Lobelia. — Arrogance. 
 
 Locust. — Vicissitude. 
 
 London-Pride. — Frivolity. 
 
 Lotus-Flower. — Silence. 
 
 Love in a Mist. — Perplexity. 
 
 Love in a Puzzle. — Embarrassment. 
 
 Love lies a-Bleeding. — Hopeless not Heartless. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 245 
 
 Liucerne. — Life. 
 Lupine. — Voraciousness. 
 Lychnis. — Religious Enthusiasm. 
 Lythrum. — Pretension. 
 
 M. 
 
 Madder. — Calumny. 
 
 Madwort, Rock. — Tranquillity, 
 
 Maize. — Plenty. 
 
 Mallow. — Sweet Disposition. 
 
 Mandrake. — Rarity. 
 
 Maple. — Reserve. 
 
 Marjoram. — Blushes. 
 
 Marsh Mallow. — Humanity. 
 
 Marvel of Peru. — Timidity. 
 
 Marygold. — Despair. 
 
 May Rose. — Precocity. 
 
 Meadow Saffron. — My best days are past. 
 
 Meadow Sweet. — Uselessness. 
 
 Mercury. — Goodness. 
 
 Mesembryanthemum. — Idleness. 
 
 Mezereon. — Desire to Please. 
 
 Michaelmas Daisy. — Cheerfulness in Old Age. 
 
 Mignonette. — Your qualities surpass your charm* 
 
 Milk Vetch. — Your presence softens my pain. 
 
 Mimosa. — Sensitiveness. 
 
 Mint. — Virtue. 
 
 Misletoe. — Obstacles to be overcome or surmounted. 
 
 Mock Orange. — Counterfeit. 
 
 Monk's Hood. — Knight Errantry. 
 
 Moschatell. — Weakness. 
 
 Moss. — Recluse. 
 
 Moss Rose. — Voluptuous Love. 
 
i''r, FLOKAL DICTIONA UY 
 
 Mossy Saxifrage. — Maternal Love. 
 
 Motherwort. — Concealed Love. 
 
 Mountain Ash. — Prudence. 
 
 Mouse Ear. — Forget me not. 
 
 Mouse Ear Chickweed. — Ingenuous Simplicity. 
 
 Mouse Ear Scorpion Grass. — Forget me NoL 
 
 Moving Plant. — Agitation. 
 
 Mulberry Tree. — Wisdom. 
 
 Mushroom. — Suspicion. 
 
 Musit Rose. — Capricious Beauty. 
 
 Myrtle. — Love. 
 
 N. 
 Narcissus. — Egotism. 
 Nasturtium. — Patriotism. 
 Nettle. — Slander. 
 Night-Blooming Cereus. — Transient Beauty. 
 
 O. 
 Oak. — Hospitality. 
 
 Oats. — The witching soul of music, hers. 
 Oleander. — Beware. 
 Olive. — Peace. 
 Orchis. — A Belle. 
 Orange Flowers. — Chastity. 
 Orange Tree. — Generosity. 
 Osier. — Frankness. 
 Ox-Eye. — Obstacle 
 
 P. 
 Palm. — Victory. 
 
 Pansee or Heart's Ease. — You occupy my tlioughts 
 Parsley. — Feast or Banquet. 
 Passion Flower. — Religious Superstition. 
 
FLOKAL DICTION AKV. 247 
 
 T'^tience Dock. — Patience. 
 
 Pea. — An appointed meeting. 
 
 Peach Blossom. — I am your captive. 
 
 Penny Royal. — Flee away. 
 
 Peony. — Bashful Shame. 
 
 Pepper Plant. — Satire. 
 
 Periwinkle — Pleasures of Memory. 
 
 Persimon. — Bury me amid Nature's Beauties. 
 
 Persicaria. — Restoration. 
 
 Peruvian Heliotrope. — Intoxicated with Pleasure. 
 
 Phlox. — Unanimity. 
 
 Pimpernel. — Assignation. 
 
 Pine. — Pity. 
 
 Pine-Apple. — You are perfect. 
 
 Plane Tree. — Genius. 
 
 Plum Tree. — Independence. 
 
 Polyanthus. — Confidence. 
 
 Pomegranate. — Foolishness. 
 
 Poppy. — Consolation to the sick. 
 
 Prickly Pear. — Satire. 
 
 Pride of China. — Dissension. 
 
 Primrose. — Early Youth. 
 
 Privet. — Defence. 
 
 Purple Clover. — Provident. 
 
 Pyrus Japonica. — Fairies' Fire. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quamoclet. — Busybody. 
 
 Queen's Rocket. — You are the Queen o i-oqucfttts. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ragged Robin. — Wit. 
 
 Red Bay. — Love's Memory. 
 
 Red Mulberry. -'Wisdom. 
 
248 FLOKAL UIVTlONAlDi 
 
 Red Pink. — Lively and pure Love. 
 
 Rhododendron. — Danger. 
 
 Rociiet. — Rivalry. 
 
 Rose. — Genteel, pretty. 
 
 Rose, Acacia. — Elegance. 
 
 Rosebay Willow Herb. — Celibacy. 
 
 Rose Campion. — You are without preteasion. 
 
 Rosemary. — Fidelity. 
 
 Rudbeckia. — Justice. 
 
 Rue. — Grace, or Purification. 
 
 Rush. — Docility. 
 
 S. 
 Saffron Flower. — Do not abuse. 
 Saffron Crocus. — Mirth. 
 Scabius. — Unfortunate attachment. 
 Scarlet Flowered Ipomcea. — Attachment. 
 Scarlet Fuchsia. — Taste. 
 Scarlet Geranium. — Preference. 
 Scarlet Ipomoaa. — I attach myself to you. 
 Scarlet Nasturtium. — Splendour. 
 Scotch Fir. — Elevation. 
 Sensitive Plant. — Bashful Modesty. 
 Siberian Crab Tree Blossom. — Deeply Interesting 
 Silver Fir. — Elevation. 
 Small Bindweed. — Obstinacy. 
 Small White Violet. — Candour and Innocence. 
 Small White Bell Flower. — Gratitude. 
 Snap Dragon. — Presumption. 
 Snow Ball. — Thoughts of Heaven. 
 Snow Drop. — Consolation. 
 Sorrel. — Wit ill-timed. 
 Southern Wood. — Jest or Bantering. 
 Spanish Jasmine. — Sensuality. 
 
FLORAL DICTION A UY ?49 
 
 Spider Ophrys. — Ad roitness. 
 Spider Wort. — Tran&ient Happiness. 
 
 Spiked Speedwell Resemblance. 
 
 Spirse Hypericum Frutex. — Uselessness. 
 
 Squirting Cucumber. — Critic. 
 
 St. John's Wort. — Superstitious Sanctity. 
 
 Star of Bethlehem. — The light of our [lath. 
 
 Stinging Nettle. — Cruelty. 
 
 Stock or Gilly-Elower. — Lasting Beauty. 
 
 Strawberry. — Perfect Goodness. 
 
 Striped Pink. — Refusal. 
 
 Sumach. — Splendour. 
 
 Sun Flower. — False Riches. 
 
 Swallow Wort. — Medicine. 
 
 Sweet Briar. — Poetry. 
 
 Sweet Flag. — Fitness. 
 
 Sweet Pea. — Delicate Pleasure. 
 
 Sweet Sultan. — Felicity. 
 
 Sweet-scented Tussilage. — You shall have Justic*. 
 
 Sweet Violet. — Modesty. 
 
 Sweet William. — Craftiness. 
 
 Sycamore. — Woodland Beauty. 
 
 Syringa. — Memory. 
 
 Tamarisk. — Crime. 
 Tansy. — Resistance. 
 Teasel. — Misanthropy. 
 Ten Weeks' Stock. — Promptitude. 
 Thorn Apple. — Deceitful Charms. 
 Throat- Wort. — Neglected Beauty. 
 Thyme. — Activity. 
 
 TigM-Flower. — For once may Pride befriend cno, 
 '.23 
 
750 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Tree of Life. — Old Age. 
 Tulip. — Declaration of Love. 
 Turnip. — Ciiarity. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valerian. — Accommodating Disposi'ion. 
 
 Various Uo.oured Lantana. — Rigour. 
 
 Verbena. — Sensibility. 
 
 Vernal Grass. — Poor but Happy. 
 
 Vervain. — Superstition. 
 
 Venus's Fly Trap. — Deceit. 
 
 Venus's Looking Glass. — Flattery. 
 
 Vine. — Drunkenness. 
 
 Virgin's Bower. — Artifice. 
 
 Virginian Spider Wort. — Momentary Happinoao 
 
 Volkamcnica Japonica. — May you be happy. 
 
 VV. 
 
 Wall Flower. — Fidelity in Misfortune. 
 Wall Speedwell. — Fidelity. 
 Walnut. — Intellect. 
 Water Melon. — Bulkiness. 
 Wax Plant. — Susceptibility. 
 Weeping Willow. — Melancholy. 
 Wheat. — Riches. 
 White Jasmine. — Amiableness. 
 White Lily. — Purity and Modesty. 
 White Mullein. — Good Nature. 
 White Oak. — Independence- 
 White Pink. — Talent. 
 White Poplar. — Time. 
 Wane Poppy. — Sleep of the Heart. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 231 
 
 White Rose, Dried. — Death preferable to loss of ii«*o 
 
 cence. 
 White Violet. — Purity of Sentiment. 
 Willow. — Forsaken. 
 Willow Herb. — Pretension. 
 Winter Cherry. — Deception. 
 Witch Hazel. — A Spell. 
 Wood Sorrel. — Maternal Tendernesa. 
 Wormwood. — Absence. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yellow Carnation. — Disdain. 
 Yellow Day Lily. — Cfquetry. 
 Yellow Gentian. — Ingratiiuoc-. 
 Yellow Iris. — Flame of Love. 
 Yellow Rose. — Infidelity. 
 Yew. — Sorrow. 
 
 Zinnia. — Absence. 
 
A. 
 
 A Belle. — Orchis. 
 
 Absence. — Wormwood. 
 
 Accommodating Disposition. — Valenwu 
 
 Activity. — Tbvme. 
 
 Acute Sorrow. — Aloe. 
 
 Adroitness. — Spider Ophrys. 
 
 Afterthought. — Catesby's Star- Wort. 
 
 Agitation. — Moving Plant. 
 
 Amiableness. — White Jasmine 
 
 An Appointed Mff-ling. — Pen 
 
 Architecture. — Candy-Tuf! 
 
 Ardour. — Cuckoo-Pint. 
 
 Argument. — Fig. 
 
 Arrogance. — Lobelia. 
 
 Art. — Bear's-Breech. 
 
 Artifice. — Virgin's Bower 
 
 A Spell. — Witch Hazel. 
 
 Assiduity. — Lavender. 
 
 Assignation. — Pimpernel 
 
 Asylum. — Juniper. 
 
 Attachment. — Scarlet-Flowered Ipomcea. 
 
 Austerity. — Fullers' Teasel. 
 
 Aversion. — China or Indian Pink. 
 
 B. 
 
 BashTul Modesty. — Sensitive Plant. 
 
 Bashful Shame. — Peony. 
 
 Beauty. — Full-Blown Rose. 
 
 Beauty always New. — China Rose. 
 
 Beauty is your only attraction. — Japan Rose. 
 
 Beneficence. — Potatoe. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY. 353 
 
 Benevolence. — Calycanthus. 
 
 Beware. — Oleander. 
 
 Beware of the Coquette. — Catalpa Tree. 
 
 Birth. — Dittany. 
 
 Blackness. — Ebony. 
 
 Bluntness of Manners. — Borage. 
 
 Blushes. — Marjoram. 
 
 Boaster. — Hydranger. 
 
 Boldness. — Pine. 
 
 Bond of Love. — Honeysuckle. 
 
 Bonds of Affection. — Gilly-Flower. 
 
 Bulkiness. — Water-Melon. 
 
 Bury me amid Nature's Beauties. — Persimon. 
 
 Busybody. — Quamoclet. 
 
 C. 
 
 Calm Repose. — Buckbean. 
 Calumny. — Madder. 
 
 Candour and Innocence. — Sweet White Violet 
 Capricious Beauty. — Musk Rose. 
 Celibacy. — Rosebay Willow Herb. 
 Charity. — Turnip. 
 Chaste Love. — Acacia. 
 Chastity. — Orange Flower. 
 Cheerfulness. — Crocus. 
 
 Cheerfulness in Old Age. — Michaelmas Daisy. 
 Cheerfulness in Adversity. — Chinese Chrysanthemum 
 Childishness. — Butter-Cup. 
 Cold-Hearted. — Lettuce. 
 Complaisance. — Common Reed. 
 Concealed Love. — Motherwort. 
 Concealed Merit. — Coriander. 
 Confidence. — Hepatica. 
 Confidence in Heaven. —-Flowering Reed. 
 23* 
 
254 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Conjugal Fidelity. — Lime or Linden Tree. 
 Consolation. — Snow Drop. 
 Consolation to the Sick. — Poppy. 
 Constancy. — Blue Pyramidal Bell Flower. 
 Content. — Houstonia. 
 
 Coquetry Yellow Day Lily. 
 
 Counterfeit. — Mock Orange. 
 
 Courage. — Black Poplar. 
 
 Craftiness. — Sweet William. 
 
 Crime. — Tamarisk. 
 
 Critic. — Squirting Cucumber. 
 
 Cruelty. — Stinging Nettle. 
 
 Cure, A. — Balm. 
 
 Cure for the Heart-ache. — Asclepias. 
 
 D. 
 Danger. — Rhododendron. 
 Dangerous Insinuations. — Great Bindweed- 
 Dauntlessness. — Thrill or Sea Pink. 
 Death and Eternal Sorrow. — Cypress Tree. 
 Death preferable to Loss of Innocence. — White Rose 
 
 Dried. 
 Deceit. — Venus's Fly-Trap. 
 Deceitful Charms. — Thorn-Apple. 
 Deceitful Hope. — Daffodil. 
 Deception. — Winter Cherry. 
 Declaration of Love. — Tulip. 
 Deeply Interesting. — Siberian Crab-Tree Blossom. 
 Defence. — Privet. 
 Delay. — Eupatorium. 
 Del icacy . — Blue-Bottle Centaury. 
 Delicate and Lovely as this Flower. — Hare- Bell. 
 Delicate Beauty. — Hibiscus. 
 Delicate Pleasure. — Sweet Pea. 
 Desire. — Jonquil. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY 255 
 
 Desire to Please. — Mezereon. 
 
 Despair — Marigold. 
 
 Devotion. — Cross of Jerusalem. 
 
 Difficulty.— Black Thorn. 
 
 Diffidence. — Cyclamen. 
 
 Dignity. — Laurel-Leaved Magnolia. 
 
 Disdain. — Yellow Carnation. 
 
 Disgust. — Frog Ophrys. 
 
 Dissension. — Pride of China. 
 
 Distinction. — Cardinal's Flower. 
 
 Docility. — Rush. 
 
 Do not abuse. — Saffron Flower. 
 
 Drunkenness. — Vine. 
 
 Durability. — Dogwood. 
 
 E. 
 Early Youth. — Primrose. 
 Egotism. — Narcissus. 
 Elegance. — Rose, Acacia. 
 Elevation. — Silver Fir. 
 Eloquence. — Iris. 
 
 Embarrassment. — Love in a puzzle. 
 Energy in Adversity. — Chamomile. 
 Ennui. — Moss. 
 Envy. — Common Bramble. 
 Error. — Fly Orchis. 
 Esteem. — Garden Sage. 
 Extinguished Hopes. — Convolvulus Major. 
 
 F. 
 Falsehood. — Bugloss. 
 False Riches. — Sun-Flower. 
 
 Fame speaks him great and good. — Apple Tree Blos- 
 som. 
 Fascination. — Fern. 
 Fate.— Flax. 
 
256 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Feast. — Parsley. 
 
 Fecundity. — Hollyhock. 
 
 Felicity. — Sweet Sultan. 
 
 Feminine Modesty. — Calla jEthiopica. 
 
 Fidelity. — Wall Speedwell. 
 
 Fidelity in Friendship. — Ivy. 
 
 Fidelity in Misfortune. — Wall Flower 
 
 Filial Love. — Virgin's Bower. 
 
 Finesse. — Sweet William. 
 
 Fitness. — Sweet Flag. 
 
 Flame of Love. — Yellow Iris. 
 
 Flee Away. — Penny Royal. 
 
 Frozen Kindness. — Hoarhound. 
 
 Flattery. — Venus's Looking-Glass. 
 
 Folly. — Columbine. 
 
 Foolishness. — Pomegranate. 
 
 Foresight. — Holly. 
 
 Forget Me Not. — Mouse-Ear Scorpion-Grass. 
 
 For once may Pride befriend me. — Tiger Flower 
 
 Forsaken. — Lilac. 
 
 Frankness. — Osier. 
 
 Freshness of Complexion. — Damask Rose. 
 
 Friendship. — Acacia Rose. 
 
 Frivolity. — London Pride. 
 
 Frivolous Amusements. — Bladder Senna. 
 
 Frugality. — Endive. 
 
 G. 
 Gaiety. — Butterfly Orchis. 
 Generosity. — Orange Tree. 
 Genius. — Plane Tree. 
 Genteel. — Rose. 
 
 Glorious Beauty. — Glory Flower. 
 Glory. — Laurel. 
 Good Education. — Cherries. 
 
FLORAL UICTIOJNaRY. 257 
 
 Good Nature. — White Mullein. 
 
 Goodness. — Good Henry. 
 
 Gossip. — CobcBa. 
 
 Grace. — Hundred-Leaved Rose. 
 
 Gracefulness. — Birch. 
 
 Grandeur. — Beech Tree. 
 
 Gratitude. — Small White Bell Flower. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hardiness. — Cranberry. 
 
 Hatred. — Basil. 
 
 Heart Ignorant of Love. — Bud of a White Rosa 
 
 Health. — Iceland Moss. 
 
 Heedlessness. — Almond. 
 
 Honesty. — Honesty. 
 
 Hope. — Hawthorn. 
 
 Hopeless not Heartless. — Love lies a- Bleeding. 
 
 Horror. — Creeping Cereus. 
 
 Hospitality. — Oak. 
 
 Humanity. — Marsh Mallow. 
 
 I. 
 I am your captive. — Peach Blossom. 
 I attach myself to you. — Scarlet Ipomoea. 
 I Burn. — Common Cactus. 
 I change but in Dying. — Bay-Leaf. 
 I declare against you. — Belvidere. 
 I die, if I'm neglected. — Laurestine. 
 Idleness. — Fig-Marigold. 
 Immortality. — Amaranth. 
 Impatience. — Balsam. 
 Impatience of Absence. — Corchorus. 
 Imperfection. — Henbane. 
 Importunity. — Common Thistle. 
 Inconstancy. — Great-Flowered Evening Primrose. 
 
i!58 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Incorruptible. — Cedar of Lebanon. 
 
 Independence. — Plum Tree. 
 
 Indifference. — Ever-Flowering Candy-Tuft. 
 
 Industry. — Bee Orchis. 
 
 I ne'er shall look upon his like again. — Rhododendron. 
 
 Infidelity. — Yellow Rose. 
 
 Ingenuous Simplicity. — Mouse-Ear Chickweed 
 
 Ingratitude. — Yellow Gentian. 
 
 Injustice. — Hops. 
 
 Innocence. — Daisy. 
 
 Inspiration. — Angelica. 
 
 Instability. — Dahlia. 
 
 Instructive. — Bay-Berry. 
 
 Intellect. — Walnut. 
 
 Intoxicated with Pleasure. — Peruvian Heliotrope. 
 
 I with the morning's love have oft made sport. — Bach 
 
 elor's Button. 
 I wish I was rich. — King-Cup. 
 
 J. 
 Jealousy. — French Marigold. 
 Jest. — Southern Wood. 
 Jastice. — Rudbeckia. 
 
 K. 
 Knight Errantry. — Monk's Hood. 
 
 L. 
 Lamentation. — Aspen Tree 
 Lasting Beauty. — Gilly Flower. 
 Lasting Pleasure. — Everlasting Pea. 
 Liberty. — Live Oak. 
 Life. — Lucerne. 
 Levity. — Larkspur. 
 Lively and Pure Love. — Red Pink. 
 Love. — Myrtle. 
 Love at first sight. — Coreopsis. 
 
FLORAL DICTION AKV 259 
 
 Love returned. — Ambrosia. 
 Love's memory. — Red Bay. 
 Love Match, A. — London Pride. 
 Lustre. — Aconite-Leaved Crowfoot. 
 Luxuriancy. — Horse Chestnut. 
 
 M. 
 Majesty and Power. — Crown Imperial. 
 Maternal Care. — Coltsfoot. 
 Maternal Love. — Mossy Saxifrage. 
 Maternal Tenderness. — Wood Sorrel. 
 Matrimony. — American Linden. 
 May you be blessed, though I be miserable! — Volk- 
 
 amenica Japonica. 
 Medicine. — Swallow- Wort. 
 Meekness with Dignity. — Plumbago. 
 Melancholy Lover. — Weeping Willow. 
 Memory. — Mock Orange. 
 Mental Beauty — Kennedia. 
 Message. — Iris. 
 Mirth. — Saifron Crocus. 
 Misanthropy. — Fullers' Teasel. 
 Modesty. — Sweet Violet. 
 
 Momentary Happiness. — Virginia Spider Wort. 
 Music. — Bundles of Reeds with Panicles. 
 My best Days are past. — Meadow Saffron 
 My Heart bleeds for you. — Camellia Japonica. 
 My regrets will follow you to the grave. — Asphodel 
 
 N. 
 Neatness. — Genista. 
 Necessitude. — Locust. 
 Neglected Beauty. — Throatwort. 
 Never-Ceasmg Remembrance. — Everlasting. 
 Night. — Convolvulus Minor. 
 
VfiO F/.ORAL DICT10NAK» 
 
 O. 
 
 Obstacle. — Ox-Eye. 
 Obstinacy. — Small Bindweed. 
 Old Age. — Tree of Life. 
 Oracle. — Dandelion. 
 Ornament. — Hornbeam Tree. 
 Obstacles to surmount. — Misletoe 
 
 P. 
 Painting. — Auricula. 
 Participation. — Double Daisy. 
 Paternal Error. — Lady's Smock. 
 Patience. — Patience Dock. 
 Patriotism. — Nasturtium. 
 Peace. — Olive. 
 Pensive Beauty. — Laburnum. 
 Pensiveness. — Cowslip. 
 Perfect Goodness. — Strawberry. 
 Perfidy. — Common Laurel in FIo^im 
 Perplexity. — Lover in a Mist. 
 Persecution. — Chequered Frilillary. 
 Perseverance. — Canary Glass. 
 Persuasion. — Althaea Frutex. 
 Pity. — Pine. 
 Play. — Hyacinth. 
 
 Pleasures of Memory. — Periwinkle. 
 Plenty. — Maize. 
 Poetry , — Sweet Briar. 
 Poor l3Ut Happy. — Vernal Grass. 
 Popular Favour. — Cistus. 
 Poverty. — Evergreen Clematis. 
 Precaution. — Golden Rod. 
 Precocity. — May Rose. 
 Preference. — Scarlet Geranium. 
 Presumption. — Snap Dragon. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONARY 26 
 
 Pretension. — Lythruni. 
 Pride. — Amaryllis. 
 Profit. — Cabbage. 
 Prolific. — Fig Tree. 
 Promptitude. — Ten Weeks' Stock. 
 Prosperity. — Bryony. 
 Protection. — Bearded Crepis. 
 Provident. — Purple Clover. 
 Prudence. — Mountain Ash. 
 Purification or Grace. — Rue. 
 Purity and Modesty. — White Lily. 
 Purity of Sentiment. — White Violet. 
 
 Q. 
 Quick Sightedness. — Hawk weed. 
 
 R. 
 Rarity. — ■ Mandrake. 
 Reason. — Goat's Rue. 
 Recluse. — Moss. 
 Reconciliation. — Filbert. 
 Refiisal. — Striped Pink. 
 Religious Enthusiasm. — Lychnis. 
 Religious Superstition. — : Passion-Plowes 
 Remorse. — Bramble. 
 Render me Justice. — Chestnut Tree. 
 Resemblance. — Spiked Speedwell. 
 Reserve. — Maple. 
 Resignation. — Indian Cress. 
 Resistance. — Tansy. 
 Restoration. — Persicaria. 
 Return of Happiness. — Lily of the Valley 
 Revenge. — Bird's-Foot Trefoil. 
 Reward of Virtue. — Crown of Roses. 
 Reward of Merit. — Bay Wreath. 
 Riches. — Wheat. 24 
 
?J2 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Klgour. — Various-Coloured Lantana. 
 
 Rivalry. — Rocket. 
 
 Royalty. — Angrec. 
 
 Rupture. — Blue Flowered Greek Valerian, 
 
 Rustic Beauty. — French Honeysuckle. 
 
 S. 
 Satire. — Pepper Plant. 
 Sculpture. — Hoya. 
 Sensibility. — Verbena. 
 Sensitiveness. — Mimosa. 
 Sensuality. — Spanish Jasmine. 
 Separation. — Ash-Leaved Trumpet-Flower. 
 Serenade. — Dew Plant. 
 Severity. — Branch of Thorns. 
 She will be Fashionable. — Queen's Rockel. 
 Slander. — Nettle. 
 
 Sleep of the Heart. — White Poppy. 
 Sickness. — Anemone. 
 Silence. — Lotus Flower. 
 Simplicity. — Full-Blown Eglantine. 
 Sincerity. — Garden Chervil. 
 Singularity. — Crested Amaranth. 
 Snare. — Dragon Plant. 
 Solace in Adversity. — Evergreer Thorn. 
 Solitude. — Heath. 
 Borrow. — Yew. 
 Sourness. — Barberry. 
 Spiritual Beauty. — Cherry Tree Blossom 
 Splendour. — Scrrlet Nasturtium. 
 Spleen. — Co" ;ion Fumitory. 
 Stoicism.— >ox. 
 Strength ^ Cedar Tree. 
 Submisb/on — Grass. 
 Success crown your wishes. — Coronilla. 
 Superstition. — Vervain. 
 Superstitious Sanctity. — St. John's Wort 
 Surprise. — Betony. 
 Susceptibility. — Wax Plant. 
 
FLORAL DICTIONAKY. 26i 
 
 Suspicion. — Mushroom. 
 
 Sweet Disposition. — Mallow. 
 
 Sweets to the Sweet. — Daphne Odora. 
 
 T. 
 
 Talent — White Pink. 
 
 Tardiness. — Flax-Leaved Goidy-Locks. 
 
 Taste. — Scarlet Fuchsia. 
 
 Tears. — Helenium. 
 
 Temperance. — Asalea. 
 
 The Arts. — Acanthus. 
 
 The incense of a Faithful Heart. — Frankincense. 
 
 The light of our path. — Star of Bethlehem. 
 
 The perfection of human loveliness. — Justicia. 
 
 The witching soul of Music, hers. — Oats. 
 
 Thoughts. — Heart's-Ease. 
 
 Thoughts of Heaven. — Snow Bell. 
 
 Time. — White Poplar. 
 
 Timidity. — Marvel of Peru. 
 
 Token, A. — Laurentinus. 
 
 TranquiUity. — Mad wort, Rock. 
 
 Transient Beauty. — Night-Blooming CeA;ua. 
 
 Transient Happiness. — Spider Wort. 
 
 Treason. — Whortle-Berry. 
 
 True Love. — Forget Me Not. 
 
 Truth. — Bitter Sweet Nightsharfi. 
 
 U. 
 
 Unanimity. — Phlox. 
 Unbelief. — Judas Tree. 
 Uneasiness. — Garden Marigold. 
 Unfortunate Attachment. — Scabius. 
 Uselessness. — Spirae Hypericum Frntefe 
 Utility. — Dried Flax. 
 
 V. 
 Variety. — Chinese Starwort. 
 Vice. — Darnel or Ray Grass. 
 Victory. — Palm. 
 Virtue. — Mint. 
 Voluptuous Love. — Moss Rose. 
 
264 FLORAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 V oluptuousness. — Tuberose. 
 
 Voraciousness. — Lupin. 
 
 Vulgar Minds. — African Marygold. 
 
 W. 
 War. — Common Milfoil. 
 Weakness. — Moschatell. 
 
 Welcome to a Stranger. — American Starwon 
 Widowhood. — Sweet Sultan. 
 Winter. — Guelder Rose. 
 Wisdom. — Mulberry Tree. 
 Writ. — Ragged Robin. 
 Wit ill-timed. — Sorrel. 
 Witchcraft. — Enchanted Nightshade. 
 Woodland Beauty. — Sycamore. 
 Worth beyond Beauty. — Alyssum, Sweet 
 Worthy all Praise. — Fennel. 
 
 Y. 
 
 You are my Divinity. — American Cowslip. 
 
 You are perfect. — Pine Apple. 
 
 You are rich in Attractions. — Garden Ranunculus. 
 
 You are the Q,ueen of Coquettes. — Q,ueen's Rocket 
 
 You are without Pretension. — Rose Campion. 
 
 You freeze me. — Ice Plant. 
 
 You please all. — Branch of Currants. 
 
 Your presence softens my pain. — Milk Vetch. 
 
 Your Q,ualities surpass your charms. — M'wnonette 
 
 You shall have Justice. — Sweet-Scented T ussilage. 
 
 Youth. — Fox-Glove. 
 
 Youthful Love.— Catch-Fly. 
 
 You will cause my Death. — Hemlock. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zealousness. — Elder. 
 Zest. — Lemon. 
 
BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL ACCOUNT OP BOTANICAL TERMS. 
 
 On the outside of many flowers is seen a little green cuj , 
 which is called by botanists the calyx. The primrose, pink, 
 and rose, give examples for analysis. 
 
 AYithin this flower-cup or calyx, which may be cut off to 
 show what it contains, is seen the colored part of the flower, 
 that part which is yellow in the primrose, blue in the violet, 
 and red in the rose. The colored part is generally called the 
 flower, or blossom ; a botanist calls it the corolla. 
 
 The blossom or corolla may now be cut off, which in the 
 primrose will be found to be of one piece, while in the rose and 
 other flowers, it is composed of several parts or flower-leaves. 
 These flower-leaves are called by botanists petals. 
 
 Within the flower-leaf or petal in most flowers, as in the 
 primrose and lily, are seen several small thread-like organs 
 standing round in a circle. These are called stamens. 
 
 Each stamen is composed of two parts, one long and slender 
 called ^6 filament or stalk; the other part, called the anther, 
 is a kind of knob like a little box at the top, which when the 
 flower comes to maturity, opens and throws out a colored dust 
 called Vae pollen. 
 
 When the calyx, corolla, and the stamens, are all cut away, 
 the centre part of the flower alone will remain on the top of 
 the stem. This central organ is called the jjis/i7/ this consists 
 of three parts, the top, which is called the stigma, the slender 
 filament which bears the stigma is denominated the style, and 
 the base is called the germe. 
 
 The receptacle is the end of the stem, where all the other 
 jiarts of a flower are inserted. 
 
 24* 
 
VWi BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Tne pericarp is the germe in a matured slate ; the name id 
 derived from the Greek terra peri, around, and karpos, fruit, 
 denoting that it surrounds the fruit or seed. 
 
 These sevea parts constitute what are called the organs of 
 fructification, viz : — 
 
 Calyx, tlie cup. Pericarp, containing seeds. 
 
 Corolla, the blossom. Seed, rudiment of a plant. 
 
 Stamens, organs within the corolla. Receptacle, lop of the stem. 
 Pistil, the central organ. 
 
 Beside these principal organs there is often found attached to 
 many flowers, a small appendage which is called the leaf-scale. 
 
 We will now give a short account of the classes and orders 
 into which plants are divided, following the system of Linna;us, 
 m preference to that of Jussieu. The first classes depend 
 mostly upon the number of the stamens, viz: — 
 
 1st cl;iss. Monaiidria, or one stamen ; this class contains the 
 arrowroot, ginger, and samphire. 
 
 2d class. Diandria, or two stamens ; for examples, we would 
 name the lilac or b\ringa, the jasmine, sage, veronica. 
 
 3d class. Triandria, or three stamens; the grasses belong lo 
 this class, as also the crocus, iris or fleur-de-lis, and holly. 
 
 4th class. Tetrandria, or four stamens, containing the hous- 
 toma ccBrulcE, madder, and silver-tree, an exotic. 
 
 5lh class. Pentandria, or five stamens ; this class contains a 
 great number of plants, many of them very beautiful, others 
 tjuite poisonou.s ; in the first division we name the forget-me-not, 
 the trumpet honey-sucfclc, and the convolvulus; m the second 
 aivisicm, known by their lurid smell and hairy stamens, the 
 poison hemlock, deadly nightshade, and datura stramonium. 
 
 6th class. Hexandria, six stamens, presents us with the lily 
 the tulip, crown imperial, and Solomon's seal. 
 
 7th class. Heplandria, or seven stamens, contains the horse 
 :;heslDut, and the winter-green or chickweed . 
 
BO'IANICAL INTRODUCTION. 2£7 
 
 8Uj class. Ociandria, or eight siamens, gives us the fuchsia 
 or ladies' ear-drop, heath, and evening primrose. 
 
 9th class. Enneandria, or nine stamens, the camphor, sassa- 
 fras, and the bay (laurus nobilis), sometimes called pacifera, 
 as sung by the ancient poets. 
 
 lOlh. Decandria, or ten stamens; this class includes the pink, 
 the wild indigo, the wild pea, pokeweed, hydrangea, and In- 
 dian redbud. 
 
 11th class. Icosandria ; th ■> class does not depend on the 
 number of the stamens, but ion the manner of insertion upon 
 the calyx; " in this class we find the night-bloon.ing cereus, a 
 species of cactus, having very large flowers, with the calyx 
 yellow, and the petals white ; they begin to open soon after the 
 setting of the sun, and close before its rising, never again to 
 blossom. The most beautiful flower among the cactus family 
 is said to be the cactus speciossissimus, with flowers of the 
 color of crimson-velvet, more superb than even the grand iflorus. 
 No class can ofTer more beautiful specimens than the Icosan- 
 dria, if we look only at the cactus order, destitute in general 
 of leaves, but with the stems often appearing like a series of 
 thick fleshy leaves, one growing from the top of the other, and 
 sometimes composed of a stem resembling flattened leaves, as 
 the prickly-pear." In this class isalso found the hawthorn, the 
 strawberry, and the whole family of roses. 
 
 12th class. Polyandria ; this has stamens separate from the 
 ralyx, and attached to the top of the flower-stem, as the mcg- 
 nolia, the tulip-tree, the pond-lily, the poppy, and the lea- 
 pliint. 
 
 13th class. Didynamia ; this class is distinguished by 'he 
 
 length and number of the siamens— four in number, two 
 
 longer than the other, the wall-flower, and the foxglove, and 
 
 trumpet-flower. 
 
 14th class. Tetradynamia, possesses six stamens, four short 
 
308 BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 er than the other Iv o. Pepper, radish, and tiiustard, are in 
 this class. 
 
 loth class. Monadelphia or one brotherhood; in this class 
 we include all such plants as have their filaments united into 
 one set. The fifth order of this class contains the genus pas- 
 siflora or passion-flower; the seventh order contains pelar- 
 gonium, and includes the genus geranium ; the thirteenth ordei 
 malvacsB, inclt'des those flow rs whose stamens are united in 
 a column, as the hollyhock, camellia japonica, mallow, and 
 cotton. 
 
 16lh class. Diadelphia, two brotherhoods; this class includes 
 all those flowers which have their filaments united into two 
 sets. The flowers of this class are called papilionaceous or 
 butterfly-shape, as the bean and the pea. When these flowers 
 contain ten separate stamens, even if papilionaceous, it is 
 placed in the 10th class, Decandria. But this is a point diffi- 
 cult to ascertain, as in the pea for instance, it is necessary to 
 take a pin and separate the filament which is alone, in order to 
 perceive that it is not united to the other nine. This class con- 
 tains the fumaria, Seneca snakeroot, and the whole family of 
 plants with leguminous pods. 
 
 17th class. Syngenesia; this comprises a great number of 
 plants. The essential marks of this class consist in the union 
 of anthers ; this gives a compound character to the flowers, 
 making each plant a collection of little florets, placed upon 
 the same receptacle, and within one common calyx; add to this 
 the five stamens with their anthers united, forming a little 
 tube. This class includes the marigold, the genus artemisia, 
 the family of the asters, solidago or golden rod, and the genus 
 chrysanthemum. 
 
 ISih class. Gynandria. This presents an entirely new fea- 
 ture, which is the situation of the stamens upon the pistil, 
 since the stamens appear to proceed from that organ In this 
 
BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 283 
 
 claiS we find the orchis family, the ladies' slipper, and tli4 
 milkweed. 
 
 19th class. MonoBcia. This class Monoecia (one house;, 
 shows to us plants upon the same root, where we tmd some 
 flowers possessing stamens, others pistils. The stamens are 
 infertile and disappear without fruit, the pistils when fertilized 
 produce fruit. The mulberry-tree, the amaranthus, the genus 
 f.aWa, one species of which gives us the Egyptian lily, a beau- 
 liful exotic. 
 
 20th class. DicEcia or two houses, has staminate and pistil- 
 late flowers upon separate plants. This order contains the 
 willow or salix, the fig (ficus), mistletoe, so long held sacred bv 
 the Druids, and the more useful plants of the hemp and the 
 hop. 
 
 21st class. Cryptogamia. This class includes all plants 
 whose organs of fructification are too minute for our investiga- 
 tion, as mosses, ferns, lichens, and mushrooms. It may be ob- 
 served that many of these plants whose flowers are invisible 
 to the naked eye, present when viewed with a telescope a verv 
 curious and beautiful arrangement. It is said that Mungo 
 Park, when once greatly discouraged by the difficulties which 
 environed him on a distant excursion, v/as so struck with the 
 providence of God, exhibited in the formation of the moss be- 
 neath his feet, that he resolved never to despair, knowing 
 that the same beneficent care would be over all his creatures. 
 In this same class we include the liverworts so useful in medi- 
 cine, the algae or seaweed which swims upon the surface of 
 the water, often covering it to great extent as the fucus nataus, 
 sometimes called the gulf-weed, which is very abundant in the 
 gulf of Florida, and is found m various parts of the ocean, 
 forming masses or floating fields many miles in extent. We 
 must not omit the lichens many of them useful on account of 
 their coloring matter, as letinus which is an excellent chymi- 
 
mo BOTANICAL 1 \ T R U U C T I (j N . 
 
 cal ttst, and is obtained from the white lichen called orchal ui 
 anchil. Nor should we forget the mushrooms, which present 
 uumerous varieties, all held in much esteem. 
 
 We will now give a very brief account of the different 
 orders into which these classes are divided, but the student in 
 Botany, must consult a larger manual to gain an accurate 
 knowledge of these subdivisions. The arrangement of the 
 orders in the first twelve classes depend chiefly upon the num- 
 ber of pistils. 
 
 1 MDNANDRIA. Two Orders, viz:— 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil. 
 
 Digynia, two pistils. 
 
 For examples of the first order, we find the hippuris, a water-plant. 
 and ginger ; for an example of the second, blitum, an American plant. 
 
 II. DIANDRIA Three Oiders, viz:— 
 
 Monogyni >, one pistil ; lilac, olive, salvia or sage. 
 Digynta, two pistils ; sweet vernal grass, catalpa-tree. 
 Trigynia, three pistils ; black jicpper. 
 
 III. TRIANDRIA. Two Or.lers, viz ;- 
 
 Monogynia, one jitstil j fleur-de-lis, blue flag. 
 Dlgynia, two pistils ; grasses, rye, cats. 
 
 IV. TETBANDRIA. Twu Orilers, v:z : — 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil ; plantain, dogwood-tree. 
 Tetragynia, Ibuv pistils; ilex or holly. 
 
 V. PENTANDRIA. Six Orders, viz:— 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil ; mouse-ear, forget-me-not. 
 Dlgynia, two pistils; Irmged gentian, parsley. 
 Tngynia, three pistils ; snow-ball, elder. 
 Tetragynia, four pistils ; grass of Parnassus. 
 Pentagynia, five pistils, flax. 
 Polygynia, thirteen pistils: yellow loot or zanthorhiza. 
 
 VI. HEXANDRIA. Thus Orders, viz:— 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil ; tulip, lily, aloes, fan-paliz. 
 Digynia, two pistils ; rice. 
 Tngynia, three pistils ; dock, sorrel. 
 \ II. HEPTANDRIA. Three Orders, viz :— 
 Monogynia, one pistil; horsechestnut. 
 Tetragynia, four pistils; saurudus or lizard's tall 
 Heptagynia, seven pistils ; septas, a native of Good Hope 
 
BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 271 
 
 VIII. OCTANDRIA. Four Orders. viz:— 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil; evening primrose, willow herb 
 Digynia, two pistils; Feverfew. 
 Trigynia, three pistils ; buckwheat. 
 
 Tetragynia, four pistils; tljjs contains a rare plant called Parii, 
 named after Paris of ancient Troy, for its remarkable beauty. 
 
 IX. ENNEANDRIA. Four Orders, viz :— 
 Monogynia, one pistil ; cinnamon, spice-bush. 
 Digyn;**, two pistils ; dog mercury. 
 Trigynia, three pistils ; rhubarb. 
 Hexagynia, six pistils ; flowering rush. 
 
 X. DECANDRIA. Five Ciders, viz:— 
 
 Monogynia, one pistil ; wild pea, me, rhododendron. 
 
 Digynia, two pistils ; pink. 
 
 Trigynia, three pistils ; sponge. 
 
 Tetragynia, four pistils ; 
 
 Pentagynia, five pistils ; cockle, sorrel. 
 
 XI. ICOSANDRIA. Three Ordeis, viz :— 
 Monogynia, one pistil; cactus, pomegranate. 
 Di-pentagynia, from two to five pistils ; apple, pear 
 Polygynia, thirteen pistils; strawberry, roses. 
 
 XII. POI-YANDRIA. Thiee Orders, viz :— 
 Monogynia, one pistil; mandrake, pond lily, poppy. 
 Di-pentagynia, two to five pistils; pioiiy, larkspur, columbine. 
 Polygynia, the thirtes^mh order, is divided into two sections, floweri 
 
 with no calyx, and flowers with a calyx. In the first section is the 
 virgin's bower, the anemone. 
 
 XIII. DIDYNAMIA. Two OrUeis, viz:— 
 
 Gymnospermia, contains plants with four nak^d seeds, as lavender. 
 Angiospermia, plants with their seeds covered. 
 
 XIV. TETHADYNAMIA. Two Orders, viz :— 
 
 Siliculosa contains plants with a short round pod, as peppergra-^s. 
 Siliquosa plants with long and narrow pods, as radish, mustard. 
 
 XV. MONODELPHIA. Five Orders, viz - 
 
 Triandria, three stamens united into a tube ; tamarind, blue-eyed grass 
 Pentandria, five. stamens; passion-flower, stork-bill geranium. 
 Heptandria, stamens united ; the genus pelargonium. 
 Decandria, ten stamens united ; cranes' bill geranium. 
 Polyandria thirteen stamens united in a column; hollyhock, si lb 
 cotton-tree. 
 
272 BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XVI, DIADELPHIA. Two Orders, mz :— 
 Pent-octandrta, five lo eight stamens ; fumaria longdalifl. 
 Decandna, ten stamens in two sets; Lima bean, lickoiioB 
 
 XVII SYNGENESIA. Five Ordeis, viz ; - 
 
 Eqiialis with perfect florets. » 
 
 Superflua, disk florets perfect, rays pistillate. 
 Frustanea, rays neutral, disk florets perfect. 
 Necessana, disk florets barren, rays fertile. 
 Segugata, each floret with a calyi. 
 
 :iVni. GYNANDRIA. Five Orders, viz .— 
 Monandna ; orchis. 
 Diandria ; ladies' slipper. 
 Pencandna; mvlkweed. 
 Hexandria ; Virginia snake-root. 
 Decandna, wild ginger. 
 
 XIX. MONCECIA. Sii Orders, vizi— 
 Monandna ; breadfruit-tree. 
 
 Ti'andna; sedge, zea mays (Indi&n ooni). 
 
 Tctrandna ; mulherry-tree. 
 
 Pentandna ; amaranthus. 
 
 Polyandna ; corylus (hazelnut), arum. 
 
 Monadelphia ; cucumber. 
 
 XX. DICECIA. Seven Orders, viz :— 
 Diandria ; willow. 
 Tritmdria ; fig. 
 
 Tetrandria ; mistletoe. 
 
 Pentandna ; hemp. 
 
 Hexandria ; honeyloclist, and green briiff 
 
 Octandria ; poplar. 
 
 Monadelphia J red cedar. 
 
 XXI. CRYPTOGAMIA. Six Orders, nx.- 
 First order contains the ferns. 
 Second order ; musai or mosses. 
 Third order ; hepaticse or liverwort*. 
 Fourth order ; algae or seaweed. 
 Fifth order ; lichens. 
 
 Sixth order ; mushrooms. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pure 
 
 pRiricK 3 
 
 PreseDtatioii page ft 
 
 Inbroi'uction 7 
 
 Management of Planli in Ruoms ... . ] 
 
 QrDainental Ciee]ier!i for the open air 14 
 
 GARDRNS, WURATIJS, 4c. 
 
 Legends of Flowers, Luq/ Hooper 15 
 
 The Painted Cup, Bryant 16 
 
 Flowers, Mrs. Sigourney J 
 
 S.ir.gurthe Last Violet, £. Em- 
 
 Awry 22 
 
 Lines to a Belle — For the Orchis, 
 
 O. W, Holmes 23 
 
 A Clump of Datsiea 25 
 
 Invocation to a Wreath of Trans- 
 
 Atlautic Flowers, Mrs. Balmanno 2? 
 The Remonstrance of the Trans- 
 planted FloweiB, E. C. Embury . . 29 
 The Consumptive, E. C. Embury .. 30 
 
 To an Autumn Rose, Hoffman 3i 
 
 Invitation to Flowers, Barton 33 
 
 Beauty and Fragrance of Floweis, 
 
 TKomson 37 
 
 Qarileii Lecture, Evans 3*? 
 
 Garden Thoughts, Montgomery .... 41 
 
 COLLECTION OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Laitovaoe op FLOwifRs, Hoffman 47 
 Illustration (Fringed Pink), Lucy 
 
 Hooper — 
 
 The Snow-Drop 49 
 
 The Snow-Drop, Smxtk SI 
 
 The same, Langhome 51 
 
 The same, Montgomery 53 
 
 The same, Howxtt 57 
 
 The Sdow-Dpop*b Call, Miss E. 
 
 £mr» 59 
 
 The Primrosi ., <j 
 
 To the Primrose, Anon. ' 
 
 The Early Primrose, H. K. White PS 
 
 The Primrose, Mrs. Hcmnna 63 
 
 The same, Clart ^3 
 
 The same, Mtckle &1 
 
 To Primroses Filled with Morning 
 
 Dew, Hemck 66 
 
 Cowslip 67 
 
 On Finding an Unrly Cowslip, 
 
 Anon 69 
 
 Covi'shps, Howitt 69 
 
 Illusiration (Pyrus Japoiiica), Lucy 
 
 Hooper — 
 
 The Daisy 71 
 
 Tit a Daisy Blonming m the Depth 
 
 of Winter, Willhouse ; 79 
 
 The Daisy, Montgomery 73 
 
 The same, Ltyden 74 
 
 The Sitiiie, Wordsworth 75 
 
 To a MtHiiitaiii-Daisy, Burns .... 77 
 
 The Michaelmas Daisy, Anon. ... 78 
 
 The 8a:iirt, Mxss M\tJ<trd 79 
 
 Sweet Violet 80 
 
 To an Early Violet, Howitt 81 
 
 The fiuiiiti, Anon 63 
 
 Violets, A Sonnet, Barton 83 
 
 The same. Smith 83 
 
 To a Violet, fioufWn^ 81 
 
 To a Yellow Viotet, Anon. 83 
 
 To a White VioWt, H. I Johns .. 81 
 
 The Violet, Mhss Landon 87 
 
 Illustration (the Crocus), Lucy Hoop 
 
 89 
 
 Tub Crocus 
 
 The Cr'^cas, I'rtor 9fl 
 
 The Autumnal Crocus, Uowitt ... 
 
 Lp.ies M 
 
 To Lilies, Xno^ M 
 
 25 
 
274 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Lily, Pcrctval 95 
 
 The Lily of the Valley, and the 
 
 Aneiijiine, Anun 9^ 
 
 Si. nj; of the Lily, ^non 97 
 
 The \\",iter-Lily, .Urj Hemans.,. 9ti 
 
 TiiK TuLir J(KI 
 
 The Tulip, h'fnst 101 
 
 Snug of Lhe Tulip, liftUand Ifll 
 
 The Rosk 103 
 
 Extract frour " BmU ot Aliydos," 
 
 Bi/ron 106 
 
 luvucation to a Ruse, Smtth 107 
 
 The saine. Anon 107 
 
 Tlie same, itowring 107 
 
 On itn Early Ruse. Anon 108 
 
 The Mi.&s-RiiHe, From the German 109 
 
 I'hf \Vi]d-R(tse. Wil/house 109 
 
 TiiK Ftniiiig R„i-, c;. y. Fos 110 
 
 The EveilaHtint- Rose, AnsUr... Ill 
 
 Shiinm'ij Rose, Anon 112 
 
 IliusLracioii 'Muuiandria Barclaya- 
 na), E. C. Embury 
 
 The Wall-Flower IH 
 
 T.. the Wall-Flowpr, Anon 115 
 
 The Wall-Flower, Dc;/a 115 
 
 Th* same, Townsend IIB 
 
 Th^ Hyacinth, or Harebell... 120 
 
 Thf Ilarehell. Mrs. Robinson 120 
 
 The same, Anon 121 
 
 The Harebell and the Fuxgtove, 
 
 Anon 121 
 
 The Cerevs '24 
 
 The Night-blowing Cerfua, Anon. 121 
 To the Night-blowing Cereus, H. 
 
 I. Johns 125 
 
 The Celandine I2t 
 
 T" the Small Celandine, Annn. .. )2~ 
 
 The Orchib 130 
 
 The Bee-OrchiB, R. Snow UO 
 
 ThK anemone 134 
 
 To the Woi.d-An*iiJone 134 
 
 lilnsiratioD (Passion Flower), Lucy 
 Hooper 
 
 Tjie Passion Flower 13fi 
 
 Tlie PassHHi Flower, Barton 136 
 
 The same, Cartwrtght 137 
 
 The Hawthohn 138 
 
 Th« Hawthorn, Anon 138 
 
 Tha MottiyAnon 139 
 
 Pa«9 
 
 The Gentian i4C 
 
 The Geiitjanella. .l/o,«/^umfry ... 141 
 
 The same, Mrs Sigoumet/ 141 
 
 Forget-me-not, or Mvosoris Pa- 
 
 LX'STBIS \4?- 
 
 Forg-et-tne-not Itarton 14? 
 
 Song of the I .rgel-S)e-Qol, non. Ill 
 
 Mosses 115 
 
 The Moss, Annn , lit 
 
 Sunflower, Marlgold, and He- 
 
 1 lOTRorE 147 
 
 Sunflower 149 
 
 Tiie Heliotrope, ^non ,149 
 
 The Mangold, W'ltner 150 
 
 The Amaranth 152 
 
 Poetiral Amaranlh, Anon 153 
 
 To the Wild Anidranih, Anon. ... 153 
 
 The Alue 155 
 
 The Whtte Ja<<nime 156 
 
 The Virgin's B..wer 156 
 
 Tlie Lavenifer 1 17 
 
 The Pmipernel I5f 
 
 Toe Sensitive Plant 158 
 
 The Ho.ifvsiirkle, or Woodhine 159 
 
 Orange Flowers ll"'C 
 
 Buttei-Cups 160 
 
 The P<.ppy !*«! 
 
 The Stinging Nettle 161 
 
 The Rhodudendion loS 
 
 The Cypress-Tree Itt3 
 
 The Blue-Bottle Centaury J63 
 
 The Sweet Pea 164 
 
 Illustration fNarr.issus — Cliiiging- 
 
 Vinc), Lucy Hooper — 
 
 Ttie Mezereon , 165 
 
 The Narcissus 165 
 
 The Convolvulna M.tjor 160 
 
 The Rosemary 167 
 
 The Ivy 167 
 
 The Yellow IriB im 
 
 The Colunihme 169 
 
 The Ahniuid tW 
 
 Broom ITO 
 
 The Common Thistle ITl 
 
 The Aspen-Tree PI 
 
 The Stork, or Gillyflower 17S 
 
 The Myrtle 173 
 
 The Crown Imperial P4 
 
 The rm I't 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 975 
 
 Page 
 Tbe DftudsliffU 175 
 
 T>i«^<rsiilatii« 176 
 
 The Olive 177 
 
 The Strawberry 177 
 
 The Muuntani-A»h 178 
 
 The Chestnut-Tree 178 
 
 I.ily of the Valley 179 
 
 Ltttus Flower, or Water- Lily 180 
 
 Dragon Plant 181 
 
 The Heath 182 
 
 Illustration (Heath), Xiwcy tf(?oper .. 
 
 The Adonis 183 
 
 The C.-dar-Tree 1S4 
 
 The White Pinli 184 
 
 Mint 185 
 
 Lettuce 185 
 
 Lupin 180 
 
 Ouelder-Ro«e 186 
 
 The Mulborry-Tree 187 
 
 The Fox-Clov« IKS 
 
 The Elder 189 
 
 The Lemon 189 
 
 The Acanthus 190 
 
 The Fir-Tree. 192 
 
 Du Vsrvuu liia 
 
 The Lilac IM 
 
 The Holly 195 
 
 The Hyacinth 196 
 
 The Laurel 19ll 
 
 The Flax-flower 200 
 
 Peruvian Ueliutrope SU3 
 
 The Vine 89S 
 
 The White Daisy aO« 
 
 Illustration (Colored Geraninm), G, 
 
 hunt ^-' 
 
 The Weeping- Willow 207 
 
 The Sorrowful Geranium 2(18 
 
 The White Poppy 209 
 
 The Pheasant's Eye, or Flos Adonis 210 
 
 The Dial OF Flowers 211 
 
 The Dial of Flowers, Mrs. Hevians 212 
 On Flora's Horoloijue, C. Smith .. 213 
 The DinoE of Fi-owers, Mrs. He- 
 
 mana 210 
 
 Aiituum Flowers, Sirici/anrf 217 
 
 The Death of the Flowers, hryanl 215 
 
 To Blossoms, He-rrxck 921 
 
 Sentiment of flowers 22? 
 
 FJoral Dictionary fi3£ 
 
 £ot«vical 'jitnx'ttctrM 2(^