8 



DESCRIPTIOX OF THE TITLE PxVGE. 





ji The hail and driving wleet, 



# Which gloomy winter stern 



Flings from hiu hnow-wreathed urn ? 



Or do ye fear the breeze 



So Hadiy ^igliing thro' the trees, 



Will chill your iVugrant tiowera, 



Ere April's genial showers ' 



Have visited your bowers ? 



Why came ye till the cuckoo's voice, 



Bade hill and vale rejoice ; 



Till Philomel with tender tone, 



Waking the echoeH lone, # 



Bids woodland glades prolong ' 



Her sweetly tuneful song ; . 



Till sky-lark blithe and linnet grey, 



From fallow brown and meadow gay, ^ 



Pour forth their jocund roundelay ; 



Till 'cowslip, wan' and ' daisies pied' 



'Broider the hillock's side, 



And opening hawthorn buds are seen, . ; 



Decking each hedge-row screen ? 



What, though the primrose drest 

 In her pure paly vest 

 ^ Came rashly forth 



To brave the biting North, . 



Did ye not see her fall 



Straight 'ueath his snowy pall ; 



And heard ye not the West wind sigh 



Her requiem as he hurried by ? 



Go hide ye then till groves are green 

 • And April's clouded bow is seen ; 



'^ Till suns are warm, and skies are clear 



And every flower that does appear, 

 Proclaims the birthday of the year. ' 



Though Canada does not boast among her violets the sweet purple violet 

 {Yiokt (xhrata) of Britain she has many elegant species remarkable for beauty of 

 form and colour; among these "The Yellow Wool Violet," the " Song Spurred Violet" 

 and the " Milkwhite Wool Violet," ( V. Canadensis) may be named. These are all 

 branching violets, some, as the yellow and the white, often attain, in rank shaded soil, 

 to a foot in height and may be found throwing out a succession of tlowers through 

 the later summer months. They will bloom freely if transplanted to a shady spot in 

 the garden. 



