-4* 

 li 





THE RETROSPECT. 



■ My song shall be alway of the loving-kindness of the Lord." 



Psalm Ixxxix. 1, 



Seest thou that streamlet wending 

 From the upland through the vale, 



O'er its crystal waters bending 

 Many a fern and floweret frail ? 



Scotland's Blue-beUs^ there are waving 



In the gentle western breeze ; 

 Lady-fern her fair fronds laving ^ 



'Neath the silver bu'ken trees. 



Anemones, like starlets, twinkle ; 

 Hyacinths their perfume breathe ; 

 oiTcl, Primrose, Periwinkle, 

 And May-lilies ^ form a wreath. 



•> Harebell. 



' "Where the copse-wood is the greenest, 

 Where the fountain glistens sheenest. 

 Where the morning dew lies longest. 

 There the Lady-fern grows strongest."— Sir Walter Scott. 

 ^ The old name for Lily of the Vale. 



61 



