CHAP, xii.] THE FALLING LEAF. 175 



July and August. Then come the pale cups of the 

 Wood Sorrel, and the wind-blown blooms of the 



" Delicate Anemone ! 

 Flower that seems not born to die 

 With its radiant purity, 

 But to melt in air away, 

 Mingling with the soft spring day." 



With these the pale sulphur of the Primrose and 

 the rich yellow of its meadow-loving relative the 

 Cowslip gradually lead on to the richer, warmer tints 

 of the advancing year, through the Buttercups, the 

 Violets, and Hyacinths. With the flowers the leaves 

 also take on a warmer tint. The light tender green 

 of the spring is toned down into the deeper tints of 

 summer. 



Now we revel in a paradise of flowers of every 

 conceivable form and hue, and a luxuriance of foliage 

 which we admire chiefly for the cool shade it affords. 

 But when autumn appears on the scene, and with a 

 touch turns the green leaves to the most glorious 

 shades of crimson, brown, and yellow, we give them 

 a different value, for the flowers are fading and we 

 miss their glowing colours. 



"With ev'ry gust the leaves pour down 



And leave the bare unsightly stems ; 

 Ah! what a little time has flown 



Since those same leaves were budding gems. 

 And now deft Nature's artist hand 



Has softly toned their bright green down, 

 Their chlorophyll has slowly tanned 

 To rich warm hues of red and brown." 



Then, when Nature sends her servants the winds 

 to whistle through the trees and strip the branches of 



