BROWNSEA ISLAND 141 



Every poet, from Omar onward, has chanted lays 

 in honour of this Queen of Flowers. The words 

 of Cowper picture very nearly the little Rose 

 Garden at Brownsea, save that here the Roses are 

 chiefly pink : 



"The scentless and the scented Rose; the red 

 And of an humbler growth, the other tall 

 And throwing up into the darkest gloom 

 Of neighbouring Cypress or more sable Yew. 

 Her silver globes, light as the foaming surf 

 That the wind severs from the broken wave." 



This Rose plot is divided from the rest of the 

 Garden (which is on a slightly higher level) by a 

 low Terrace wall. Four enormous Irish Yews stand 

 sentinel near by, emphasising the Italian feeling 

 that lingers over this Garden. 



The walls of the Terrace are covered with 

 Roses, Fig trees, and Honeysuckle, and down the 

 two sides of the Garden, under the upper Terrace 

 wall, are long beds of herbaceous plants glowing 

 with colour. 



This upper Terrace has its own special charm and 

 beauty, and many picturesque effects. For instance, 

 the Terrace wall possesses the uncommon feature 

 of not being level along the top, but drops down 

 in a graceful curve at intervals, like a chain sus- 

 pended between posts. Stone vases some of 

 which are filled with flowers stand on this wall 



