PASQUE-FLOWER. 191 



the winds and waves, till they arrive at the 

 places of their destination.* 



Thus have I essayed to blend with the 

 unassuming pasque-flower, blooming on her 

 native heath, thoughts that may, perchance, 

 incline the heart to explore, still farther, the 

 wonders of creation. An harbinger is she 

 of flowers and green leaves ; she heralds 

 the coming back of birds and butterflies, and 

 the rising of glittering constellations. But 

 more than this, she is mseparably connected, 

 not only by a bond of union with the earth 

 and air, but is linked to that invisible chain 

 of beings which holds the universe together 

 in the bond of coeval existence. 



"What learn we from this ? Ancient poets, 

 beneath the quivering boughs of silver-barked 

 birch-trees, surveying nature as a glorious 

 temple, peopled with imaginary beings, 

 erected altars to them on the sunny turf, 

 * " Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom." 



