PREFACE. xvil 



agreed with this beautiful speech ! for that his " wise 

 heart" loved the flowers, the lily especially, is evident from 

 numerous passages in his Song. The object of his love, 

 in claiming a supreme dignity of beauty, exclaims, " I am 

 the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley," 



The Emperor Dioclesian preferred his garden to a 

 throne : 



" Methinks I see great Dioclesian walk 

 In the Salonian garden's noble shade, 

 Which by his own imperial hands was made : 

 I see him smile, methinks, as he does talk 

 With the ambassadors, who come in vain 

 T' entice him to a throne again. 

 e If I, my friends,' said he, ' should to you show 

 All the delights which in these gardens grow, 

 'Tis likelier far that you with me should stay, 

 Than 'tis that you should carry me away : 

 And trust me not, my friends, if, every day, 

 I walk not here with more delight, 

 Than ever, after the most happy fight, 

 In triumph to the capital I rode, 



To thank the gods, and to be thought myself almost a god.' " 



COWLEY'S GARDEN. 



Sir W. Temple desired to have his heart buried in his 

 garden. 



Lope de Vega appears to have been a lover of gardens. 

 " As he is mentioned more than once," says Lord Holland, 

 " by himself and his encomiasts, employed in trimming a 

 garden, we may collect that he was fond of that occupation. 

 Indeed his frequent description of parterres and fountains, 

 and his continual allusion to flowers, justify his assertion, 

 -' that his garden furnished him with ideas, as well as 

 vegetables and amusement *.' r 



The French poet Ronsard was evidently a lover of 



* See Life of Lope de Vega, vol. i. page 93. 



