218 FLORAL EMBLEMS, 



MY BEST DAYS ARE PAST, 



CoLCHicuM, OR Meadow-saffron. 

 Colchicum Autumnale. 



" Or temper'd every baleful juice 



Which poisonous colchian glebes produce." 



In floral language this autumnal flower 

 expresses " my best days are past/' for, far 

 from inspiring us, like the crocus, with joy 

 and hope, it appears to announce to all nature 

 the loss of the fine days, and the approach 

 of a cheerless atmosphere. 



" Catch, then, O ! catch the transient hour. 

 Improve each moment as it flies : 

 Life's a short summer, man a flower. 

 He dies — alas ! how soon he dies !" 



Johnson. 



