SNOWDROPS. 15 



winter Aconite (though, indeed, the Eranthis is itself 

 allied rather to the Hellebores than to the Aconites) ; 

 as yet, however, my Aconites are still below the sod. 



January 20. It is St. Agnes's Eve, and never 

 was there a St. Agnes's Eve so unlike that one 

 which witnessed the happy adventure of young 

 Porphyro. Then 



" St. Agnes' Eve ; ah ! bitter chill it was ; 



The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold ; 

 The hare limped trembling through the frozen grass, 

 And silent was the flock in woolly fold." 



Now the weather is soft, and almost warm. 



I always seem to connect the idea of a Snow- 

 drop with St. Agnes ; and Tennyson speaks of 

 ''the first Snowdrop of the year "lying upon her 

 bosom. This year our first Snowdrop appeared on 

 the 1 8th, and now each day brings out fresh tufts 

 on the herbaceous borders, where the sun strikes 

 most warmly. Another week will pass, and, under 

 the Lime trees which shade the orchard, I shall 

 find other tufts of the double variety, planted in 

 bygone years I know not by whom, and now spring- 

 ing up half wild and quite uncared for. And 

 these Snowdrops gave me a hint a year or two 

 ago. I found that my gardener was in the habit 



