- CHAP. XII] THE FALLING LEAF. 175 
July and August. Then come the pale cups of the: 
Wood Sorrel, and the wind-blown blooms of the 
** Delicate Anemone ! 
Flower that seems not born to die 
With its radiant purity, 
But to melt in air away, 
Mingling with the soft spring day.” 
With these the pale sulphur of the Primrose and 
the rich yellow of its meadow-loving relative the 
Cowslip gradually lead on to the richer, warmer tints 
of the advancing year, through the Buttercups, the 
Violets, and Hyacinths, With the flowers the leaves 
also take on a warmer tint. The light tender green 
of the spring is toned down into the deeper tints of 
summer. 
Now we revel in a paradise of flowers—of every 
conceivable form and hue, and a luxuriance of foliage 
which we admire chiefly for the cool shade it affords. 
But when autumn appears on the scene, and with a 
touch turns the green leaves to the most glorious 
shades of crimson, brown, and yellow, we give them 
a different value, for the flowers are fading and we 
miss their glowing colours. 
‘** With ev’ry gust the leaves pour down 
And leave the bare unsightly stems ; 
Ah! what a little time has flown 
Since those same leaves were budding gems, 
And now deft Nature’s artist hand 
Has softly toned their bright green down,— 
Their chlorophyll has slowly tanned 
To rich warm hues of red and brown.” 
Then, when Nature sends her servants the winds 
to whistle through the trees and strip the branches of 
