XII 

 THE DAFFODIL 



. . . daffodils, 



That come before the swallow dares, and take 

 The winds of March with beauty . . . 



Perdita, " Winter's Tale," iv. 3. 



FEELING that the beauty of this Queen of spring 

 flowers could not but inspire me when she came I 

 put off writing this chapter until she was once 

 more with us in all her golden glory. 



This lovely gift of Nature, which joins hands 

 with the lingering Chrysanthemums and the 

 earliest Roses, has been the means of creating a 

 great floral industry. 



She has many charming helpmates in her work 

 of filling this niche of Flora's Temple, but they all 

 sink into comparative insignificance beside her. 



The Daffodil appears to have been known and 

 honoured by the ancients, and also to have had its 

 place in mythology, as we find it mentioned in 



140 



