Old Flower Favorites 



It was a virtue to be comely in those days ; as 

 it is indeed a virtue now ; and to the pious old 

 herbalists it seemed an impossible thing that any cre- 

 ation which was beautiful should not also be good. 



All flowers 

 cannot be loved 

 with equal 

 warmth; it is 

 possible to have 

 a wholesome lik- 

 ing for a flower, 

 a wish to see it 

 around you, 

 which would 

 make you plant 

 it in your bor- 

 ders and treat it 

 well, but which 

 would not be 

 at all akin to 

 love. For others 

 you have a placid 

 tolerance; others 

 you esteem 

 good, virtuous, 

 worthy crea- 

 tures, but you 

 cannot warm Meadow Rue. 



toward them. 



Sometimes they have been sung with passion 

 by poets (Swinburne is always glowing over very 

 unresponsive flower souls) and they have been 



