NATURE AND THE POETS 93 



flowers also abound. When the woods are bare, 



which does not occur in New England till in or 



near November, the fringed gentian has long been 



dead. It is in fact killed by the first considerable 



frost. No, if one were to go botanizing, and take 



Bryant's poem for a guide, he would not bring home 



any fringed gentians with him. The only flower 



he would find would be the witch-hazel. Yet I 



never see this gentian without thinking of Bryant's 



poem, and feeling that he has brought it immensely 



nearer to us. 



Bryant's poem of the "Yellow Violet" has all 



his accustomed simplicity and pensiveness, but his 



love for the flower carries him a little beyond the 



facts; he makes it sweet-scented, — 



" Thy faint perfume 

 Alone is in the virgin air ; " 



and he makes it the first flower of spring. I have 

 never been able to detect any perfume in the yel- 

 low species (Viola rotundifolia). This honor be- 

 longs alone to our two white violets, Viola blanda 

 and Viola Canadensis. 



Neither is it quite true that 



" Of all her train, the hands of Spring 

 First plant thee in the watery mould." 



Now it is an interesting point which really is our 

 first spring flower. Which comes second or third 

 is of less consequence, but which everywhere and 

 in all seasons comes first; and in such a case the 

 poet must not place the honor where it does not 

 belong. I have no hesitation in saying that, through- 



