50 FLORA'S LEXICON. 



UTTER-CUP. Ranunculus JEm. Class 

 13, POLYANDRIA. Order: POLYGYNIA. This 

 plant contains many virulent qualities, which 

 are said to affect cattle, especially sheep, 

 and particularly the root, which has the 

 property of inflaming and blistering the 

 skin. Shakspeare mentions it as the cuckoo- 

 flower in King Lear, 



Nettles, cuckoo-flowers, 

 Darnell, and all the wild weeds. 



And Clare, the Northamptonshire poet, alludes to its ungrateful 

 qualities in some lines on the " Eternity of Nature :" detailing 

 his morning's walk, he says, 



I wander out and rhyme; 

 What hour the dewy morning's infancy 

 Hangs on each blade of grass and every tree, 

 And sprents the red thighs of the humble bee, 

 Who 'gins betimes unwearied minstrelsy; 

 Who breakfasts, dines, and most divinely sups, 

 With every flower save golden buttercups, 

 On whose proud bosoms he will never go, 

 But passes by with scarcely ' how do, ye do,' 

 Since in their showy, shining, gaudy colls, 

 Haply the summer's honey never dwells. 



INGRATITUDE. 



I served thee fifteen hard campaigns, 

 And pitch'd thy standards in these foreign fields; 

 By me thy greatness grew; thy years grew with it; 

 But thy ingratitude outgrew them both. 



DRY DEN. 



He that's ungrateful, has no guilt but one; 

 All other crimes may pass for virtues in him. 



YOUNG. 



He that doth public good for multitudes, 

 Finds few are truly grateful. 



MARSTON. 



