"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR" 133 



lady-smocks, cuckoo-buds, cuckoo-flowers, and crow- 

 flowers, for they are more or less related. 



Gerard says: "Our Lady-Smock is also called the 

 cuckoo-flower because it flowers in April and May 

 when the cuckoo doth begin to sing her pleasant 

 notes without stammering." 



V 



Anemones and "Azured Harebells" 



ANEMONE (Anemone pur pur ea striata stel- 

 laid). The anemone is described in "Venus and 

 Adonis" very minutely : 1 



By this, the boy that by her side lay kill'd, 

 Was melted like a vapor from her sight, 

 And in his blood that on the ground lay spill 'd, 

 A purple flower sprung up chequer'd with white. 

 Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood, 

 Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood. 



Adonis, the beautiful youth, beloved of Venus, 

 was wounded by a boar, to which he had given chase. 

 Venus found him as he lay dying on the grass. To 

 make him immortal she changed him into an ane- 

 mone, or windflower. Naturally the flower was 

 dedicated to Venus. 



1 Verse 195. 



