OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



cissuses, Pheasant VEyes,Bear's-Ears, 

 Alyssums, Saxifrage, Anemones it is 

 through you that the months that come 

 before the leaf-time February , March, 

 April translate into smiles which men 

 can understand the first news and the 

 first mysterious kisses of the sun ! You 

 are frail and chilly and yet as bold-faced 

 as a bright idea. You make young the 

 grass ; you are fresh as the water that 

 flows in the azure cups which the dawn 

 distributes over the greedy buds, ephe- 

 meral as the dreams of a child, almost 

 wide still and almost spontaneous, yet 

 already marked by the too precocious 

 brilliancy, the too flaming nimbus, the 

 too pensive grace, that overwhelm the 

 flowers which yield obedience to man. 



C 163 



