NEWS OF SPRING 



crowded the Long-leaved Veronica; the Red Potentilla; the 

 African Marigold; the ancient Lychnis, or Bachelor's Button; 

 the Mournful Widow, or Purple Scabious; the Foxglove, or 

 Digitalis, who shoots up like a melancholy rocket; the Euro- 

 pean Aquilegia, or Columbine ; the Viscaria, who, on a long, 

 slim neck, lifts a small ingenuous, quite round face to ad- 

 mire the sky; the lurking Honesty, who secretly manufactures 

 "Pope's money," those pale, flat crown-pieces wherewith, no 

 doubt, the elves and fairies by moonlight carry on their trade 

 in spells; lastly, the Pheasant's-Eye the red Valerian, or 

 Jupiter's-Beard, the Sweet William and the old Carnation, 

 that was cultivated long ago by the Grand Conde in his exile. 

 Beside these, above, all around, on the walls, in the 

 hedges, among the arbours, along the branches, like a crowd 

 of frolicking monkeys and birds, the climbing plants make 

 merry, perform feats of gymnastics, play at swinging, at losing 

 and recovering their balance, at falling, at flying, at looking 

 into space, at reaching beyond the tree-tops to kiss the sky. 

 Here we have the Scarlet Runner and the Sweet Pea, quite 

 proud at being no longer included among the vegetables ; the 

 modest Convolvulus ; the Honeysuckle, whose scent represents 

 the soul of the dew; the Clematis and the Wistaria; while, at 



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