THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 



II 



Although we, as a nation, have a strong love of 

 flowers, yet they do not mean as much to us as they 

 mean to the Japanese, or, at any rate, we do not man- 

 age to express our love for them as systematically or 

 as clearly as the Japanese. It is, of course, a defect 

 of our modern life that we do not manage to express 

 anything very systematically or clearly. Indeed, we 

 rather take a pride in being inarticulate; and not 

 only in ordinary speech but in all our manners and 

 actions we conceal our deeper feelings, whereas the 

 Japanese, for all their Oriental composure and sup- 

 pression of transitory and individual emotions, have 

 elaborated a ritual for the expression of emotions and 

 tastes that are national and persistent. Flowers for 

 them are not merely toys or ornaments. It is impos- 

 sible, probably, for any European to understand all 

 that flowers mean to them and how far they love 

 them for their own sake or how far as symbols, chosen 

 by reason of their beauty, of certain qualities which 

 they cultivate as carefully as the flowers themselves. 

 Flowers, such as the Cherry blossom, the Iris, the 

 Pseony, and the Chrysanthemum, have for them as- 

 sociations so ancient and so strong that in the in- 



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