THROUGH THE CHANGING YEAR 135 



quite overpower the green foliage. Tennyson's 

 description, '' Laburnum, dropping- wells of fire," 

 is well known. Mr. Step declares his prefer- 

 ence for Cowper's "rich in streaming gold," as 

 embodying a more exact colour-idea. But the 

 yellow of the flower is quite different from that 

 of the metal ; and whilst the latter may shine, 

 the former glows. Tennyson, it will be re- 

 collected, also speaks of " the ground-flame of 

 the crocus". There is much colour in nature, 

 especially when the sun illumines it, that comes 

 very near to the appearance of incandescence. 

 The word is a cumbrous one, but recent useful 

 appliances have made it convey a clear idea to 

 us. Glow and glowing convey the same idea, 

 but with less sense of brilliance. Fire and 

 flame are at once felt to be not so appropriate. 

 But flowers, and even autumn foliage, often 

 cannot be adequately described in terms of 

 colour alone. 



The brilliance of the laburnum flowers has 

 led us into what is perhaps not wholly a 

 digression. Less familiar than the hawthorn 

 is the blackthorn, which blossoms earlier : 

 when the daffodils "take the winds of March 

 with beauty". The flowers of wild cherry, 



