164 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



See the primrose sweetly set 



By the much-loved violet, 



All the bankes doe sweetly cover 



As they would invite a lover 



With his lass, to see their dressing, 



And to grace them by their pressing." 



W. BROWNE, 



" 'Tis May, the Grace, confess'd she stands 

 By branch of hawthorn in her hands : 

 Lo ! near her trip the lightsome dews, 

 Their wings all tinged in iris hues ; 

 With whom the powers of Flora play, 

 And paint with pansies all the way." <, 



WART ON. 



Philips, in his Letter from Copenhagen, beautifully 

 describes the appearance of the Hawthorn in the winter : 



" In pearls and rubies rich the hawthorns show, 

 While through the ice the crimson berries glow." 



There is a beautiful address to the Hawthorn in the 

 poems of Ronsard. The following version*, which is 

 from the pen of the Rev. Mr. Gary, is so faithful, and so 

 happy, that the French poet will suffer no injustice if we 

 quote the translation only : 



" Fair hawthorn flowering, 



With green shade bowering 

 Along this lovely shore; 



To thy foot around 



With his long arms wound 

 A wild vine has mantled thee o'er. 



(C In armies twain, 



Red ants have ta'en 

 Their fortress beneath thy stock : 



And in clefts of thy trunk 



Tiny bees have sunk 

 A cell where honey they lock. 



* See " Notices of the Early French Poets/' in the London Maga- 

 zine, vol. v. p 511. 



