NATURE AND THE POETS 93 



flowers also abound. When the woods are bare, 

 which does not occur in New England till in or 

 near November, the fringed gentian has long been 

 dead. It is in fact killed by the first considerable 

 frost. No, if one were to go botanizing, and take 

 Bryant's poem for a guide, he would not bring home 

 any fringed gentians with him. The only flower 

 he would find would be the witch-hazel. Yet I 

 never see this gentian without thinking of Bryant's 

 poem, and feeling that he has brought it immensely 

 nearer to us. 



Bryant's poem of the "Yellow Violet" has all 

 his accustomed simplicity and pensiveness, but his 

 love for the flower carries him a little beyond the 

 facts ; he makes it sweet-scented, 



" Thy faint perfume 

 Alone is in the virgin air ; " 



and he makes it the first flower of spring. I have 

 never been able to detect any perfume in the yel- 

 low species (Viola rptundifolia). This honor be- 

 longs alone to our two white violets, Viola blanda 

 and Viola Canadensis. 



Neither is it quite true that 



" Of all her train, the hands of Spring 

 First plant thee in the water}* mould." 



Now it is an interesting point which really is our 

 first spring flower. Which comes second or third 

 is of less consequence, but which everywhere and 

 in all seasons comes first; and in such a case the 

 poet must not place the honor where it does not 

 belong. I have no hesitation in saying that, through- 



