FLOWERS AS EMBLEMS. 137 



them when she wakes, and sees them spread out their 

 petals to the light of the sun, all glowing with beauty 

 when the dews that sleep nightly in their bosoms steal 

 silently back to heaven ; and every day is relieved of its 

 weariness by the myriads that brighten when it approach- 

 es, and sweeten with their fragrance the transitory visits 

 of each fleeting hour. 



"Where is the mind so impassive that it is not animated 

 by the presence of flowers and made hopeful by their 

 gayety ? Where is the eye that does not see them, and 

 note their comeliness, and wish that they might never 

 droop or decay ? AVhere is the lover that does not view 

 them as partaking of his own passion, and looking fair 

 for the sake of her for whom they seem to be created ? 

 The young bride, when garlanded with their wreaths, 

 feels that the virtues that should reside in her heart have 

 shed their grace upon her through these fair symbols ; and 

 mourners, when tliey see them clustering round the tomb 

 of a departed friend, worship them as lights of heaven, 

 foreshowing in their sleep and resuscitation the soul's 

 immortality ! 



