III. THE LEAF. 55 



24. And thus, associating these grass and lily leaves al- 

 ways with fountains, or with dew, I think we may get a 

 pretty general name for them also. You know that Cora, 

 our Madonna of the flowers, was lost in Sicilian Fields : 

 you know, also, that the fairest of Greek fountains, lost in 

 Greece, was thought to rise in a Sicilian islet ; and that 

 the real springing of the noble fountain in that rock was 

 one of the causes which determined the position of the 

 greatest Greek city of Sicily. So I think, as we call the 

 fairest branched leaves ' Apolline,' we will call the fairest 

 flowing ones ' Aretlmsan.' But remember that the Apol- 

 line leaf represents only the central type of land leaves, 

 and is, within certain limits, of a fixed form; while the 

 beautiful Arethusan leaves, alike in flowing of their lines, 

 change their forms indefinitely, some shaped like round 

 pools, and some like winding currents, and many like ar- 

 rows, and many like hearts, and otherwise varied and vari- 

 able, as leaves ought to be, that rise out of the waters, 

 and float amidst the pausing of their foam. 



25. Brantwood, Easter Day, 1875. I don't like to spoil 

 my pretty sentence, above; but on reading it over, I sus- 

 pect I wrote it confusing the water-lily leaf, and other 

 floating ones of the same kind, with the Arethusan forms. 

 But the water-lily and water-ranunculus leaves, and such 

 others, are to the orders of earth-loving leaves what ducks 

 and swans are to birds ; (the swan is the water-lily of 

 birds ; ) they are swimming leaves ; not properly watery 

 creatures, or able to live under water like fish, (unless 



