8 INTRODUCTION. 



which, first attuned, in earliest time, in the golden age of 

 legendary lore, has come down to us, growing more mellow 

 and sweeter as it chimed through the centuries, and now, 

 as then, echoed, with a music akin to that of heaven, in 

 the human heart. 



And this floral music has not been without its deep and 

 lasting influence : little may we know of the countless 

 paths of life which it has made brighter, and which have, 

 long ages since, ended beneath a grassy, flower-sprinkled 

 grave ; but we see it breathing over us from the acanthus 

 leaves of the Corinthian capital, sounding from the silence 

 of mediaeval marble, and echoing, again and again, in 

 the rich strains of deathless poesy. It is one of the 

 links binding the present to the past, joining us in sym- 

 pathy with those who lived long ago ; and while we 

 gather the rose, the lily, or the violet, we but renew a 

 pledge with the olden time, and our heart beats in sym- 

 pathy with the universal heart-beat of the human race 

 for centuries. 



What volumes might be written on the history, the 

 legends, the poetry of flowers ! Yet, dear reader, pleasant, 

 and profitable withal, as such reading might be, ours is a 

 homelier purpose. We glean not the legends of the past, 



