Woodside. 43 



Does not the richly scented hawthorn bush woo our stay ? 

 and 



" On the upland stile embowered, 

 With fragrant hawthorn, snowy flowered," 



do we not with the poet " sauntering sit " ? How often 

 have we reclined on a moss-grown bank to drink in the scent 

 of the violets hidden in the grass, or stood lingeringly by a 

 rose-bush, only leaving it in quest of another ? But, beyond 

 all, what clouds of fragrance are borne on the air from a bed 

 of mignonette!- How unattractive is the bloom of the latter, 

 judged by its appearance, described by the poet as 



" Mignonette's meek, humble form, 

 Without one tint upon her modest garb 

 To draw the idle stare of wandering eyes ! " 



The poet, however, passing from the unattractiveness of the 

 flower's appearance, soon hits the secret of the delight with 

 which we hail its presence, for he sings 



" Yet rich 



In precious fragrance is that lowly one, 

 So loved for her sweet qualities, that I 

 Should woo her first amid a world of flowers." 



We are apt to think that everything beautiful and 

 delicious in the field of Nature has been made specially to 

 delight and charm our human senses, and there is a faint 

 suspicion that a flower has not fulfilled its highest 

 functions unless we are cognisant of its existence, in the 

 lines 



" For many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its sweetness in the desert air." 



Let us see whether we can discover at least some of the 

 uses of scents in flowers. Have you ever heard of the 



