84 APRIL. 



deadness of the wintry landscape, from a com- 

 parison with the hilarity of spring : and when 

 spring itself appears, it comes with a freshness 

 of beauty which charms us at once with no- 

 velty, and a recognition of old delights. Symp- 

 toms of spring now crowd thickly upon us ; 

 however regular may be our walks, we are 

 daily surprised at the rapid march of vegeta- 

 tion, at the sudden increase of freshness, green- 

 ness, and beauty ; one old friend after another 

 starts up before us in the shape of a flower. 

 The violets which came out in March in little 

 delicate groups, now spread in myriads along 

 the hedge-rows, and fill secluded lanes with 

 their fragrance. In some springs, however, 

 though most abundant, yet, perhaps, owing to 

 the dryness of the weather, they are almost 

 scentless. The pilewort, or lesser celandine, 

 too, is now truly beautiful, opening thousands 

 and tens of thousands of its splendidly gilt and 

 starry flowers along banks, and at the feet of 

 sheltered thickets ; so that, whoever sees them 

 in their perfection, will cease to wonder at the 

 admiration which Wordsworth has poured out 

 upon them in two or three separate pieces of 

 poetry. Anemonies blush and tremble in copses 



