JULY 133 



the pieces cut out where they are wanted somewhere 

 else without disturbing the earth that clings to them. 

 If you ever try to force your own Lilies of the Valley, 

 pick out the best crowns, but never put them into the 

 greenhouse till frost has been on them, and never mulch 

 outdoor Lilies of the Valley before March, and then only 

 with leaf mould. As Lilies are an early spring flower, 

 you will find they do better under a wall facing east than 

 anywhere else. 



July llth. How beautiful are the really hot, lovely 

 English summer's days. They come sometimes, and they 

 are exquisite ; nothing beats them. Why, oh ! why, can 

 I never enjoy such things without that tinge of sadness 

 which moderns call morbidness ? It does no good, but 

 I think of someone who is ill, or of those masses and 

 masses of people in that dreary great city so close. As I 

 enjoy my garden alone, with the beauty and the flowers, 

 the flood of summer light and the intense pleasure of it, 

 I long to do something, and longing generally resolves 

 itself into picking flowers for somebody. This little 

 poem by Paul Verlaine seems to give the colour of it all, 

 and the pain : 



LA VIE 



Le ciel est par-dessus le toit, 



Si bleu, si calme ! 

 Un arbre par-dessus le toit 



Berce sa palme. 



La cloche dans le ciel qu'on voit 



Doucement tinte, 

 Un oiseau sur 1'arbre qu'on voit 



Ghante sa plainte. 



Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, la vie est la, 



Simple et tranquille ; 

 Cette paisible rumeur-la 



Vient de la ville. 



