THE HONEYSUCKLE. 



THE HONEYSUCKLE (Caprifolium Periclymenuvi). — 

 Bonds of Love. 



Recollections of childhood are chiefly associated with 

 pleasurable incidents : hence the scenes mid which our golden 

 age was passed are ever bound round our heart by the fondest 

 regard. Wander where we will over the wide world, form as 

 many new ties as we may, ties the nearest and dearest that 

 the human heart can conceive of, pass through periods of the 

 richest enjoyment that our being is capable of feeling, there 

 is still — latent it may be in general — but there is still a deep, 

 strong, and abiding affection for that particular spot of our 

 native land where our early years were spent. All writers 

 have expressed this, sonie poets in language the most ex- 

 pressive, as, for instance, Scott : 



" Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, 

 Who never to himself hath said, 

 This is my own, my native land \" 



and here we have the same feeling shown in more humble 

 lines with which our flower is woven : 



" There the wild Honeysuckle, gaily drest 

 In blending hues of yellow and of red, 



With rich abundance, throws its slender stems 

 In beautiful festoons, while its flowers shed 

 Their fragrant sweets upon the evening air. 

 No blooming shrub's more plentiful or fair, 

 Than Woodbine wild among thy floral gems." 



Those Bonds of Love are, perhaps, the last to be broken which 

 bind the child to the parent, especially to the mother. With 



112 



