STfje Sprfnjj 88fflti jflotoers. 69 



Gallic authority is pronounced one of the sweet- 

 est things of life. This theory, then, may fur- 

 nish the key to the passage ; it is to the qualifi- 

 cation " sweeter," in the sense of softer, not to 

 the color-definition, that we must seek for its 

 intended significance. On the other hand, if im- 

 petuous Jove kissed Juno, as there is every rea- 

 son to suppose he did, we must conclude that he 

 preferred roses to violets, and kissed her on the 

 mouth, and not on the eyelids. Clearly, this is a 

 subtle ruse of Shakespeare, all the more abstruse 

 from its lovely imagery, and is only another case 

 of " The Lady or the Tiger." 



Passing from the " Winter's Tale " to the 

 " Country Churchyard," the verse printed in two 

 editions of Gray, and then expunged from the 

 " Elegy," presents itself : 



There scattered oft, the earliest of the year, 

 By hands unseen, are showers of violets found ; 



The redbreast loves to build and warble here, 

 And little footsteps lightly print the ground. 



Why Gray should have canceled this exquisite 

 stanza is inconceivable. It is the relief, the very 

 flower of the ode the one expression of loving- 

 kindness and human sympathy to diffuse warmth 

 and fragrance over the tomb. 



Finally, before taking leave of the violet, I 

 wonder if a resemblance of two poems, to which 



