196 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



Strow me the ground with daffadowndillies, 

 And cowslips,, and king-cups, and loved lilies : 



The pretty pawnee, 



And the chevisaunce, 

 Shall match with the fair floure-de-lice." 



Pansies make a part of the wreaths brought by the 

 grateful shepherds to the nymph Sabrina, 



" That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream. 



the shepherds at their festivals 



Carol her goodness, loud in rustic lays, 



And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream 



Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils." 



" The delicacy of its texture, and the vivacity of its purple, are 

 inimitable," says the Countess, in le Spectacle de la Nature. " The 

 softest velvet, if set in competition with this flower, wonld appear to 

 the eye as coarse as canvas." 



Yet, in another part of this work, the same flower is 

 represented as an humble one which makes no figure, but 

 diffuses an agreeable odour. 



It has already been observed, that only the larger kinds 

 have any scent : thus many persons, judging from the 

 smaller, have thought them all scentless. The difference 

 of opinion on this point may be seen in several of the above 

 quotations. 



Dryden, in his translation of a passage in Virgil's Pas- 

 torals where the poet speaks of sweet herbs in general, in- 

 troduces the Pansy ; but expressly to distinguish it from a 

 fragrant plant : 



" Pansies to please the sight, and cassia sweet to smell." 



There is a species of Hearfs-ease called the Great 

 Flowering a native of Switzerland, Dauphiny, Silesia, 

 and the Pyrenees which is very similar to the common 



