THINGS GREEN AND FAIR 21 



in their endless and exquisite variety. Is not each 

 one an embodied Thought of God ? 



" A thing of beauty is a joy for ever; 

 Its loveliness increases ; it will never 

 Pass into nothingness ; but still will keep 

 A bower quiet for us, and a sleep 



Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. 

 Therefore on every morrow are we wreathing 

 A flowery band to bind us to the Earth, 

 Spite of despondence. . . . 



Yes, in spite of all, 

 Some shape of beauty moves away the pall 

 From our dark spirits. Such the Sun, the Moon, 

 Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon 

 For simple sheep ; and such are daffodils 

 With the green world they live in ; and clear rills 

 That for themselves a cooUng covert make 

 'Gainst the hot season ; the mid-forest brake. 

 Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms." ^ 



IV — The Parts of a Flower 



Suppose we find our way to a Wild Rose — to that 

 one which grew on the hedge in the garden which we 

 visited in the first chapter of this book. 



Those were spring days, and now it is summer. Or, 

 if not, let us imagine that it is. We shall find that, 

 instead of one bud only just opening, the tree carries 

 a mass of delicate white pink-edged blossoms. 



We will pluck one of them, and look at it carefully. 

 What you have to think about is — not the Parts of a 

 Plant, but the Parts of a Flower. 



Notice first the small stalk on which it grows — -an 

 off- shoot from the main stalk or stem, coming up straight 

 from the root. Then see where the flower meets its 



1 Keats. 



