Part 38

She had read Her father’s well-filled library with profit, And could talk charmingly. Then she would sing, And play too, passably, and dance with spirit. She sketched from nature well, and studied flowers, Which was enough alone to love her for. Yet she was knowing in all needlework, And shone in dairy and in kitchen too, As in the parlour.

James N. Barker.

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Art became the shadow Of the dear star-light of thy haunting eyes! They called me vain, some mad--I heeded not, But still toiled on, hoped on, for it was surest, If not to win, to feel more worthy thee.

Bulwer.

VALERIAN.... An accommodating Disposition.

The Valerian was called by some of the old English writers the Setewale. It is generally found growing by ruined walls or buildings, and from the facility with which it propagates in these situations, it is made the emblem of an accommodating disposition. The root of the Valerian is considered a valuable remedy for many of those ailments which spring from luxurious living. It exerts a peculiar influence on the nervous system, revives the spirits, and strengthens the sight. The Valerian is too large and scrambling a plant to hold a place in the parterre of choice flowers.

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How much more happy is that sweet estate, That neither creeps too low nor soars too high; Which yields no matter for contempt or hate, Which others not disdain, nor yet envy, Which neither does nor takes an injury, But living to itself in sweet content, Is neither abject, nor yet insolent.

1629. Herbert.

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My country, sir, is not a single spot Of such a mould, or fixed to such a clime.

Miller.

MARVEL OF PERU.... Timidity.

The Marvel is a native of Peru, and receives its name from the wonderful diversity of colours in flowers of the same root;

Changing from the splendid rose To the pale violet’s dejected hue.

Akenside.

This plant retains its beauty for a great length of time, being frequently covered with blossoms from the beginning of July to the end of October. It is chosen as the emblem of timidity, because the flowers are too timid to expand during the day, and open and give out their fragrance at night.

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Sure, ’twas his modesty. He might have thriven Much better possibly, had his ambition Been greater much. They ofttimes take more pains Who look for pins, than those who find out stars.

John Fountain.

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I pity bashful men, who feel the pain Of fancied scorn and undeserved disdain, And bear the marks upon a blushing face Of needless shame and self-imposed disgrace.

Cowper.

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“Call back your odours, lonely flowers, From the night-wind call them back; And fold your leaves till the laughing hours Come forth in the sunbeam’s track. The lark lies couched in her grassy nest, And the honey-bee is gone; And all bright things are away to rest-- Why watch ye here alone?” Nay, let our shadowy beauty bloom, When the stars give quiet light; And let us offer our faint perfume On the silent shrine of night. Call it not wasted the scent we lend To the breeze when no step is nigh; Oh! thus for ever the earth should send Her grateful breath on high! And love us as emblems, night’s dewy flowers, Of hopes unto sorrows given, That spring through the gloom of the darkest hours, Looking alone to Heaven.

Mrs. Hemans.

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