MARCH 63 



hundred about the ruins of forgotten home- 

 steads, where, as in Dr Holmes' pathetic verse, 

 only the cellar and the well are left to speak of 

 the place whence life and thought are gone 

 away. They are at their best, also, in a " care- 

 less orchard garden " and lose much if planted 

 in rows and circles after the manner of the 

 Philistines. Since there are so many varieties 

 and sub-varieties of the lovely narcissi they 

 may be with us for over a month perhaps for 

 two months, beginning always with that clear 

 trumpet of pale yellow in which there are green 

 shadows and frosty high lights. The scent is 

 like the scent of no other flower, and looking 

 into its heart one sees, perhaps, as far into 

 infinity as it is given to man to look. 



Wherever the Garden of Heart's Desire may 

 lie, when March winds are blowing it must be 

 rich with those faint stirrings of the under-heart 

 which show that the year has turned indeed. 

 There are purplish shoots which tell where the 

 phlox will start its upward way ; there are pink 

 cones which show where the peony roots are 

 bedded. Before we have had time to look for 

 them, the columbines have unfurled two or 

 three metallic root leaves and some of the 



