38 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



so necessary in the case of Leontopodium. The 

 Edelweiss is not all it seems ; the Gentian is. 

 *'// ne suffit pas d'etre, il faut paraitre " ; and this, 

 certainly, the little Vernal Gentian does. In not 

 one single trait does it belie the high colour of 

 its blossom. 



With what curiously different craft do each of 

 these flowers play upon the emotions ! With what 

 contrary art does each make its appeal to our 

 regard and adulation I To each we may address 

 Swinburne's stately lines : to each we may, and 

 do exclaim : 



"... with my lips I kneel, and with my heart 

 I fall about thy feet and worship thee . . ."" 



Yet this act of adoration, when it affects the 

 Edelweiss, seems far more an act of idolatry 

 than it does when it affects the Gentian. For on 

 the one hand we have the Edelweiss stirring the 

 imagination to wild, foolhardy flights amid the awe- 

 some summer haunts of the eagle and the chamois, 

 when, in simple reality, we could if we would be 

 reposing amongst hundreds of its woolly stars upon 

 some gentle pasture-slope away from the least 

 hint of danger and of scandale ; while on the 

 other hand we have the Vernal Gentian calling us 



