244 



A PLEASANT PICTURE. 



*' Broad-leaved are they, and their white canopies 

 Are upward turned to catch the heaven's dew." 



So says Keats ; but this is true only while the sun is asserting 

 his supremacy in the azure sky. And then, the spectacle of 

 a calm, rush-fringed pool, nestling in the shadow of some 

 ancient elms or drooping willows, and brightened by the 



FIG. 54. " Brightened by the uplifted cups of our delicate naiads." 



uplifted cups of our delicate naiads, is a scene of surpass- 

 ing beauty. We turn from this favourite flower regretfully, 

 " murmuring," as novelists say, Mrs Hemans's graceful apos- 

 trophe : 



" Oh ! beautiful thou art, 

 Thou sculpture-like and stately river queen, 

 Crowning the depths as with the light serene 

 Of a pure heart ! 



