AN ISLAND GARDEN 77 



som supreme. Another has the orange suffused 

 through the gold evenly, almost to the outer 

 edges of the petals, which are left in bright, light 

 yellow with a dazzling effect. Turning the flower 

 and looking at it from the outside, it has no calyx, 

 but the petals spring from a simple pale-green 

 disk, which must needs be edged with sea-shell 

 pink for the glory of God ! The fresh splendor 

 of this flower no tongue nor pen nor brush of 

 mortal man can fitly represent. 



Who indeed shall adequately describe any one, 

 the simplest even, of these radiant beings? Day 

 after day, as I watch them appear, one variety 

 after another, in such endless changes of delicate 

 beauty, I can but marvel ever more and more at 

 the exhaustless power of the great Inventor. 

 Must He not enjoy the work of His hands, the 

 manifold perfection of these His matchless crea- 

 tions ? Who can behold the unfolding of each 

 new spring and all its blossoms without feeling 

 the renewal of " God's ancient rapture," of which 

 Browning speaks in " Paracelsus " ? In that im- 

 mortal rapture, I, another of his creatures, less 

 obedient in fulfilling His laws of beauty than are 

 these lovely beings, do humbly share, reflecting it 

 with all the powers of my spirit and rejoicing in 

 His work with an exceeding joy. 



As the days go on toward July, the earth be- 

 comes dry and all the flowers begin to thirst for 

 moisture. Then from the hillside, some warm, 

 still evening, the sweet rain-song of the robin 

 echoes clear, and next day we wake to a dim 

 morning ; soft flecks of cloud bar the sun's way, 



