180 WILD FLOWERS. 



departed poet, CAMPBELL : -" I delight in the 

 Flowers of the Field ; they have all some charm 

 or other in my eyes, with their shapes and 

 hues they speak a language of their own, to 

 my imagination ; and when I have admired 

 their beauty, I like to consult the dictionary 

 about their uses and qualities." Better stiil 

 were it to have some friend acquainted with the 

 hidden properties of nature's various produc- 

 tions, to whom, like Thyrsis lamenting for his 

 Damon, one might say : . 



" Thou shalt cull me simples, and shall teach 



Thy friend the name and healing powers of each, 

 From the tall blue-bell to the dwarfish weed, 

 What the dry land, and what the marshes feed; 

 For all their kinds alike to thee are known, 

 And the whole art of Galen is thine own." 



The friends of the poet, above alluded to, 

 might well exclaim, with the concluding words 

 of the quotation : 



"Ah! perish Galen's art, and withered be 

 The useless herbs that gave not health to thee." 



COWPER, PROM MILTON. 



