THE GARDENS OF THE SEA 



(a midsummer noon's dream) 



I recall a singular legend, where heard, where 

 read, I do not remember, nor even am I sure 

 of what race the offspring, of what land the 

 denizen. It was to the effect that, in the 

 ancient days of the world, flowers had voices, 

 had song to them as the saying is : and 

 that there were kingdoms among these popula- 

 tions of beauty, and that in the course of ages 

 (would they be flower -geons, and so of a 

 measure in time different from our longer 

 or shorter periods ?) satraps revolted against 

 the dominion of the Rose, and tropical princes 

 led new hosts, and scarlet forest-queens filled 

 the jungle and the savannah with their chants 

 of victory. And the end was a conflict so 

 great that even the isles of the sea were 

 shaken by it, and the pale green moss of polar 

 rocks whispered of the great world-war of the 



211 



