32 By Leafy Ways. 



lychnis ; the gromwell adds a touch of imperial purple; 

 there is a broad flush of valerian among the stones of 

 the ancient camp, 



Where the brake and the tufted gra^s are high 

 On the low mounds where warriors lie : 

 And, in the shade of cloisters dim, 

 Unconscious birds sweet requiems hymn 

 Over the nameless slain. 



Peering out of tangled thickets, or clustering about 

 the feet of ancient trees, nestle patches of woodruff, 

 the fragrance of whose withered leaves, pressed 

 among the pages of some cherished book, calls back 

 memories of old delights, suggests new dreams of 

 love and sunshine. 



And while woods and highways brighten thus under 

 the lavish brush of Nature, the clematis is twining its 

 white wreaths about our trellises ; our gardens are 

 magnificent with the rich clusters of the lilac and the 

 drooping gold of the laburnum, and the air of twilight 

 is heavy with their perfumed breath. 



The woods have reached their prime. Broad-armed 

 beech, blossoming chestnut, and stately elm are draped 

 in their perfect foliage, their cool and varied tints 

 undimmed as yet to the monotonous tone of the later 

 summer. Noble oak trees, ever the monarchs of the 

 glade, bear up on their tall gray columns a swaying 

 roof of sunlit green. 



We are apt to associate mistletoe with the oak ; but, 

 however it may have been in the days of the Druids, 



