A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



the claytonia, yet the first hepaticas, where 

 the two plants grow side by side, bloom 

 about a week before the first violet. And 

 I have yet to find one that has an odor that 

 could be called a perfume. A handful of 

 them, indeed, has a faint, bitterish smell, 

 not unlike that of the dandelion in quality ; 

 but if every flower that has a smell is sweet- 

 scented, then every bird that makes a noise 

 is a songster. 



On the occasion above referred to, I also 

 dissented from Lowell's statement, in " Al 

 Fresco," that in early summer the dandelion 

 blooms, in general, with the buttercup and 

 the clover. I am aware that such criticism 

 of the poets is small game, and not worth 

 the powder. General truth, and not speci- 

 fic fact, is what we are to expect of the 

 poets. Bryant's " Yellow Violet " poem is 

 tender and appropriate, and such as only a 

 real lover and observer of nature could feel 

 or express; and Lowell's "Al Fresco" is 

 full of the luxurious feeling of early summer, 

 and this is, of course, the main thing ; a 

 good reader cares for little else ; I care for 

 little else myself. But when you take your 

 coin to the assay office it must be weighed 

 and tested, and in the comments referred 



212 



