Part 70

Shelley.

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How blest the Solitary’s lot, Who, all-forgetting, all-forgot, Within his humble cell, The cavern wild with tangling roots, Sits o’er his newly-gathered fruits, Beside his crystal well! Or, haply, to his evening thought, By unfrequented stream, The ways of men are distant brought, A faint collected dream: While praising, and raising His thoughts to heaven on high, As wand’ring, meand’ring, He views the solemn sky. Than I, no lonely hermit placed Where never human footstep traced, Less fit to play the part; The lucky moment to improve, And just to stop, and just to move, With self-respecting art: But ah! those pleasures, loves, and joys Which I too keenly taste, The Solitary can despise, Can want, and yet be blest! He needs not, he heeds not, Or human love or hate, Whilst I here must cry here, At perfidy ingrate!

Burns.

DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere. Heaped in the hollow of the grove, the withered 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 young fair flowers, that lately sprang and stood, In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood? Alas! they all are in their graves; the gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lonely 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 perished 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, And the yellow sunflower 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 heard, though all the trees are still, And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill, The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore, And sighs to find them in the wood and by the streams 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, when the forest cast the leaf, And 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.

Bryant.

Dictionary of Flowers,

WITH THEIR EMBLEMATIC SIGNIFICATIONS.

Acacia Friendship. ---- Rose Elegance. Acanthus The Arts. Achillea millefolia War. Adonis, Flos Painful Recollections. Agrimony Thankfulness. Almond-tree Indiscretion. Aloe Grief. Amaranth Immortality. Amaryllis Pride. Anemone Forsaken. ----, Field Sickness. Angelica Inspiration. Angrec Royalty. Apple blossom Preference. Ash tree Grandeur. Asphodel My Regrets follow you to the Grave. Aster, China Variety. ---- After-thought. Balm of Gilead Cure. ---- Gentle Joking. Balsam Impatience. Barberry Sourness of temper. Basil Hate. Beech Prosperity. Bilberry Treachery. Bladder-nut Frivolous amusement. Borage Bluntness. Box tree Stoicism. Bramble Envy. Broom Humility. ---- Ardour. Buck-bean Calm repose. Bugloss Falsehood. Bulrush Indiscretion. Burdock Touch me not. Buttercup Ingratitude.

Cactus, Virginia Horror. Canterbury Bell Constancy. Catchfly Snare. Champignon Suspicion. Cherry tree Good education. Chestnut tree Do me justice. Chicory Frugality. Cinquefoil Beloved daughter. Circæa Spell. Clematis Artifice. Clot-bur Rudeness. Clove tree Dignity. Columbine Folly. Convolvulus, Night Night. Coriander Hidden merit. Corn Riches. Cornbottle Delicacy. Cornel Cherry tree Durability. Cowslip, American You are my divinity. Cress Resolution. Crown Imperial Power. Cuscuta Meanness. Cypress Mourning.

Daffodil Self-love. Daisy Innocence. ----, Garden I share your sentiments. ----, Wild I will think of it. Dandelion The rustic oracle. Day-Lily, Yellow Coquetry. Dittany Childbirth. Dock, Patience Patience Dodder Meanness.

Ebony tree Blackness. Eglantine Poetry.

Fennel Strength. Fig Longevity. Fir tree Elevation. Flax I feel your kindness. Flower-de-Luce Flame. Forget-Me-Not Forget me not. Fraxinella Fire. Fuller’s Teasel Misanthropy. Geranium, Pencilled leaf Ingenuity. ----, Rose-scented Preference. ----, Scarlet Stupidity. ----, Sorrowful Melancholy mind. ----, Wild Steadfast piety. Grass Utility.

Hawthorn Hope. Hazel Peace, reconciliation. Heart’s-ease Think of me. Heath Solitude. Heliotrope, Peruvian Devoted attachment. Hellenium Tears. Hepatica Confidence. Holly Foresight. Hollyhock Ambition. Honeysuckle Generous and devoted affection. Hop Injustice. Hornbeam Ornament. Horse-chestnut Luxury. Hortensia You are cold. Hyacinth Game, play.

Ice-plant Your looks freeze me. Ipomæa I attach myself to you. Iris Message. Ivy Friendship.

Jasmine Amiableness. ----, Carolina Separation. ----, Indian I attach myself to you. Jonquil Desire. Juniper Protection.

Larch Boldness. Larkspur Lightness. Laurel Glory. Laurustinus I die if neglected. Lavender Mistrust. Leaves, Dead Sadness, melancholy. Lilac First emotions of love. ----, White Youth. Lily Majesty. Lily of the Valley Return of happiness. Linden tree Conjugal love. Liverwort Confidence. London Pride Frivolity. Lotus Eloquence. Lucern Life.

Madder Calumny. Maiden Hair Secrecy. Mallow Beneficence. Manchineel tree Falsehood. Mandrake Rarity. Maple Reserve. Marigold Grief. ----, Prophetic Prediction. ---- and Cypress Despair. Marvel of Peru Timidity. Meadow Saffron My best days are past. Mezereon Coquetry. ---- Desire to please. Mignonette Your qualities surpass your charms. Milkwort Hermitage. Mistletoe I surmount all difficulties. Moonwort Forgetfulness. Moss Maternal Love. Mulberry tree, Black I shall not survive you. ----, White Wisdom. Musk-plant Weakness. Myrobolan Privation. Myrtle Love.

Narcissus Self-love. Nettle Cruelty. Nightshade, Bitter-sweet Truth. ----, Enchanter’s Spell. Nosegay Gallantry.

Oak Hospitality. Olive Peace. Ophrys, Spider Skill. Orange Flower Chastity. ---- tree Generosity. Orchis, Bee Error.

Parsley Festivity. Passion Flower Faith. Peppermint Warmth of feeling. Periwinkle Tender recollections. Pine-apple You are perfect. Pink Pure love. ----, Yellow Disdain. Plane tree Genius. Plum tree Keep your promises. ----, Wild Independence. Poplar, Black Courage. ----, White Time. Poppy Consolation. ---- Sleep. ----, White My bane, my antidote. Potato Beneficence. Primrose Childhood. ----, large-flowered Evening Inconstancy. Privet Prohibition.

Quince Temptation.

Ranunculus You are radiant with charms. Reeds Music. Rose Love. ----, Hundred-leaved Grace. ----, Monthly Beauty ever new. ----, Musk Capricious beauty. ----, Single Simplicity. ----, White Silence. ----, Withered Fleeting beauty. ----, Yellow Infidelity. Rosebud A young girl. ----, White A heart unacquainted with love. Rosemary Your presence revives me. Rue, Wild Morals. Rush Docility.

Saffron Beware of excess. Sage Esteem. Sainfoil, Shaking Agitation. St. John’s Wort Superstition. Sardonia Irony. Sensitive Plant Chastity. Snapdragon Presumption. Snowdrop Hope. Sorrel, Wood Joy. Speedwell Fidelity. Spindle-tree Your charms are engraven on my heart. Star of Bethlehem Purity. Stock Lasting beauty. ----, Ten Week Promptness. Stonecrop Tranquility. Straw, Broken Rupture of a contract. ----, Whole Union. Strawberry Perfection. Sunflower False riches. Sweet Sultan Happiness. Sweet William Finesse. Sycamore Curiosity. Syringa Fraternal.

Tansey, Wild I declare war against you. Tendrils of climbing plants Ties. Thistle Surliness. Thorn-apple Deceitful charms. Thrift Sympathy. Thyme Activity. Tremella Nostoc Resistance. Truffle Surprise. Tuberose Dangerous pleasures. Tulip Declaration of love. Tussilage, Sweet-scented Justice shall be done to you.

Valerian An accommodating disposition. ----, Greek Rupture. Venus’s Looking-glass Flattery. Veronica Fidelity. Vervain Enchantment. Vine Intoxication. Violet Modesty. ----, White Innocence, candour.

Wallflower Fidelity in misfortune. Walnut Stratagem. Whortleberry Treachery. Willow, Weeping Mourning. Wormwood Absence.