APRIL. 67 



which Wordsworth has poured out upon them 

 in two or three separate pieces of poetry. Ane- 

 monies blush and tremble in copses and pas- 

 tures ; the wild cherry enlivens the woods ; and 

 in the neighbourhood of Nottingham the vernal 

 crocus presents a unique and most beautiful ap- 

 pearance, covering many acres of meadow with 

 its bloom ; rivalling whatever has been sung of 

 the fields of Enna ; gleaming at a distance like 

 a perfect flood of lilac, and tempting very many 

 little hearts, and many graver ones too, to go 

 out and gather. 



The blossom of fruit-trees presents a splendid 

 scene in the early part of the month, gardens 

 and orchards being covered with a snowy pro- 

 fusion of plum-bloom ; and the black-thorn and 

 wild plum wreathe their sprays with such pure 

 and clustering flowers, that they gleam in the 

 shadowy depths of woods as if their boughs 

 radiated with sunshine. In the latter part of 

 the month, the sweet and blushing blossoms of 

 apples and the wilding, fill up the succession, 

 harmonizing delightfully with the tender green 

 of the expanding leaves, and continuing through 

 part of May. 



The catkins, or pendulous flowers of many of 

 the trees are now peculiarly beautiful ; those of 

 the birch hang like golden tassels, and especially 

 where these elegant trees abound, as they do in 



