WILD-FLO IVER SOA'A' TS. 



WHITE FRINGED ORCHIS. 



/^NE golden day I wandered far and wide, 



Down sheltered dells, spicy with rose and bay, 

 Through marshy meads, with scarlet lilies gay, 

 And sought and searched for thee, O fairest bride 

 Of summer fields, Fringed Orchis, snowy pure! 

 Bright Arethusa smiled to see me pass, 

 And many a modest wilding from the grass 

 Glanced shyly upward ; nothing could allure 

 My heart from its fond quest : the yearning grew 

 At every step to find thy hiding-place, 

 As grows the longing to behold the face 

 Of one long loved, long absent. Well I knew 

 Such love as mine must win. Some subtle power 

 Led me to thee : was it thy soul, my flower ? 

 AUGUST. 



