212 DIAL OF FLOWERS. 



T.HE 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 flowers 



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 brightly 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 Linnaeus. It marked 

 the hours by the opening and closing, at regular intervals, of the 

 flowers arranged in it. 



