VII 



THE FANTASIES 

 OF FERNS 



IN the old flower lan- 

 guage, the Fern was the 

 symbol of sincerity. In the 

 wood language, the mystic 

 speech of the Magician, the 

 Fern stands for silence. Are 

 not these interpretations the same? 

 The Fern is a voiceless sentinel 

 of the silent woodlands; it has no 

 flower to draw to it the hum of 

 insects. Around the margins, or 

 following the veins of its fronds, 

 gather the intangible spores scarce 

 deserving the name of seed till, 

 in a further stage of development, 

 they generate the dual forms which 

 mutually perpetuate the race. 

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