BROOM. 67 



<f Far dearer to me are yon humble broom bowers, 



Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk lowly unseen ; 

 For there lightly tripping amang the sweet flowers, 

 A listening the linnet, oft wanders my Jean." 



" 'Twas that delightful season, when the broom 

 Full-flowered, and visible on every steep, 

 Along the copses runs in veins of gold." 



WORDSWORTH'S POEMS, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 265. 



Thomson speaks of it as a favourite food of kine. It 

 flowers in May and June. 



" Yellow and bright, as bullion unalloyed, 

 Her blossoms." 



COWPER'S TASK. 



Broom makes a pleasant shade for a lounger in the 

 summer : it seems to embody the sunshine, while it inter- 

 cepts its heat : 



" To noontide shades incontinent he ran, 

 Where purls the brook with sleep-inviting sound ; 

 Or, when Dan Sol to slope his wheels began, 

 Amid the broom he basked him on the ground, 

 Where the wild thyme and camomile are found." 



CASTLE OF INDOLENCE, Canto 1. 



Mr. Horace Smith speaks of it as poisonous, yet most 

 of the species are eaten by cattle : some are particularly 

 recommended as a food for kine. The Base Broom, or 

 Green-weed, is said to embitter the milk of the cows that 

 eat of it; but, from the bitterness of the plant itself, they 

 commonly refuse it. 



" my herd 



Cannot be browsed upon the mount, for so 

 The heifers might devour with eager tongue 

 The poisonous budding brooms." 



AMARYNTHUS. 



