From calyx pale the freckled cowslips born, Lo! the Receive in jasper cups the fragrant dews of morn. And, where the slowly trickling stream In the lone copse, or shadowy dale, Wild clustered knots of harebells And droops the lily of the vale O'er vinca's3 matted leaves below. grow, The orchis race with varied beauty charm, And, blushing, the uncultured rose Hangs high her beauteous blossoms there ; Her fillets there the purple nightshade weaves, And pale bryonia1 winds her broad and scalloped leaves. To later summer's fragrant breath Clematis' feathery garlands dance; The hollow foxglove nods beneath; While the tall mullein's yellow lance Dear to the mealy moth of evening-towers; And the weak galium5 weaves its myriad fairy flowers. Sheltering the coot's or wild duck's nest, And where the timid halcyon hides, The willow-herb, in crimson drest, Waves with arundo o'er the tides; And there the bright nymphæa7 loves to lave, Or spreads her golden orbs upon the dimpling wave. (1) Hottonia-the water violet. (2) Menyanthes-the buck-bean or bog-bean. (3) Vinca-periwinkle. (4) Bryonia-bryony. (5) Galium-the yellow bed-straw. (6) Halcyon-the king-fisher. (7) Nymphæa-the white water-lily; the "golden orbs," in the next line, belong to the yellow species. And thou, by pain and sorrow blest, Contrasting with the corn-flower blue, Bend in the rustling gale amid the tawny sheaves. From the first bud, whose venturous head Are all for health, for use, for pleasure given, And speak, in various ways, the bounteous hand of Heaven. Charlotte Smith. THE HOROLOGE OF FLORA. In every copse and sheltered dell The green-robed children of the spring Mark where transparent waters glide, But, conscious of the earliest beam, (1) Papaver-poppy. There seems to be an error here; it is the white poppy, papaver somniferum, which produces opium-the "opiate dew" of the text. (2) Horologe-(from Lat. horologium, which is from "pa, an hour, and λéyev, to tell), that which tells the hour, a clock, a watch, &c. In the "Horologe of Flora," or, as it is sometimes called, "the dial of flowers," certain flowers, which open or shut at regular intervals, fancifully serve the purpose of a time-piece. Till the bright day-star to the west See hieracium's1 various tribe Broad o'er its imbricated1 cup, Pale as a pensive cloistered nun, Among the loose and arid sands, And those small bells so lightly rayed, (1) Hieracium-hawkweed. (2) Plumy-feathery, from the Latin pluma, a feather. (3) Radiate from the Latin radius, the spoke of a wheel, or a line or ray of light emitted from a luminous body. As a botanical term, the adjective" radiate" signifies having florets set round a disk in the form of a star. (4) Imbricated-from the Latin imbrex, a gutter-tile for carrying off rain-cut or indented like a gutter-tile. (5) Cloistered-shut up in a cloister; from the Latin claustrum, an enclosed place. (6) Arenaria-from the Latin arena, sand, which is from arere, to be drysandwort. (7) Calyx-another form of the Latin calix, a cup-the outer covering of a flower. (8) Plaits-folds; from the Latin plicare, to fold, through the French plier. In old English the word was plite. Chaucer writes:-" to sewe (i. e. to sew) and plite." On upland slopes the shepherds mark And thou! "Wee crimson-tipped flower," The garish noontide's blazing light; Thus in each flower and simple bell A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. THE lists are oped, the spacious area cleared, Hushed is the din of tongues-on gallant steeds, And lowly bending to the lists advance; The crowd's loud shout their prize, and ladies' lovely glance. (1) Chicorium-chicory or succory. (2) The daisy. In allusion to the poem by Burns, beginning with the above words. (See p. 76.) (3) Silene noctiflora-the night-flowering catch-fly. (4) Garish-from old English gaure, or gare, to stare, used thus by Chaucer:"Now gaureth all the people on her." Hence the adjective may mean, staringly fine, gay, showy, oppressively bright. (5) Lists-from Anglo-Saxon lis-an, to collect together. List is the Anglicised past participle, and means primarily that which is collected together, i. e. a collection, as in the expression "a list of names;" in a secondary sense, and in the plural number, it denotes the enclosure round which the company collected sit to behold a public spectacle, and also the barriers of rope, cloth, or board, which serve as the boundary. (6) Lated-for belated-arriving too late. In costly sheen and gaudy cloak arrayed, The lord of lowing herds; but not before Thrice sounds the clarion; lo! the signal falls, Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit His angry tail;-red rolls his eye's dilated glow. Sudden he stops; his eye is fixed: away, (1) Matadore-from the Spanish matador, a murderer, from the Latin mactator, which is from mactare, to kill. context. The office of the matadore is obvious from the (2) Aloof-i.e. all off-entirely separate. (3) Nor more, &c.-i. e. no more can a man, thus lightly armed, do than fight aloof, without his friendly steed. (4) Mute-synonymous with silent and dumb. He is silent who does not speak ; dumb, who cannot speak; and mute, who is compelled by circumstances to be silent. The epithet silent is often applied to things that admit no sound, as here, "the silent circle." (5) Lashing spring-a peculiar use of the term "lashing." The noun "lash "is derived from the French lascher, to let loose, and signifies that which is cast loose or thrown. A lashing spring, therefore, may be a leap all abroad, free, unchecked, enormous or which, as it were, lashes the air. (6) Away, thou heedless boy, &c.-There is great beauty in the sudden change of the narrator into an actual sharer in the scene itself. He seems so intensely interested in the scene he is describing that he cannot refrain from calling out to warn the "heedless boy" of his danger, and the reader's sympathy is proportionately quickened. |