OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



the sky. The miraculous harmonies of 

 light at play, ceaselessly inventing new 

 gaieties, revelling in itself, would be 

 unknown to us; for the flowers first 

 broke up the prism and made the most 

 subtle portion of our sight. And the 

 magic garden of perfumes who would 

 have opened its gate to us? A few 

 grasses, a few gums, a few fruits, the 

 breath of the dawn, the smell of the 

 night and the sea, would have told us 

 that beyond our eyes and ears there 

 existed a shut paradise where the air 

 which we breathe changes into delights 

 for which we could have found no name. 

 Consider also all that the voice of hu- 

 man happiness would lack ! One of the 

 / blessed heights of our soul would be al- 



