"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR" 95 



peer cautiously from the soil, and few birds sing; 

 for leaves, buds, and birds know full well that win- 

 ter is lurking in the distance and that rough winds 

 occasionally issue from the bag of Boreas. The 

 time has not yet come for "lisp of leaves and ripple 

 of rain" and for choirs of feathered songsters. Yet 

 all the more, because of its bold daring and its 

 modest demeanor, the primrose deserves the en- 

 thusiastic welcome it has always received from poets 

 and flower lovers. 



"The primrose," writes Dr. Forbes Watson, 

 "seems the very flower of delicacy and refinement; 

 not that it shrinks from our notice, for few plants are 

 more easily seen, coming as it does when there is a 

 dearth of flowers, when the first birds are singing 

 and the first bees humming and the earliest green 

 putting forth in the March and April woods. And 

 it is one of those plants which dislikes to be looking 

 cheerless, but keeps up a smouldering fire of blossom 

 from the very opening of the year, if the weather 

 will permit. 



"The flower is of a most unusual color, a pale, 

 delicate yellow, slightly tinged with green. And the 

 better flowers impress us by a peculiar paleness, not 

 dependent upon any feebleness of hue, which we 

 always find unpleasing, but rather upon the exquisite 



