94 NOTES. 



In one of Keats's early poems he notices the Helle- 

 bore's curving leaf, 



" As the leaves of Hellebore 

 Turn to whence they sprung before, 

 And beneath each ample curl 

 Peeps the richness of a pearl ! " 



But if poets know how to describe a Christmas Rose, 

 there are others who do not. A horticultural book just 

 published, says and the description is a curiosity that 

 in the month of January, "in our garden, on the hill- 

 side, the Christmas Rose is the sweetest and prettiest 

 thing to show. Its petals are weak and pale; its per- 

 fume is very faint ; if you gather it, the leaves presently 

 fall .off, and the flower is destroyed. Leave it in the 

 hedge, when it is almost the only thing to gladden the 

 eye: 



" The Christmas Rose, the last flower of the year, 

 Comes when the holly berries glow and cheer 

 When the pale snowdrops rise from the earth, 

 So white and spirit-like 'mid Christmas mirth." 



I wish the writer would show me this curious Christ- 

 mas Rose, which grows in a hedge, and has weak 

 petals and a faint perfume, and is spirit-like ! What 

 can it be ? and who could have written these very 

 unmelodious lines ? 



THE END. 



LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS. 



