APRIL DAYS 65 
After the epigzea and the hepatica have blos- 
somed, there is a slight pause among the wild- 
flowers, — these two forming a distinct prologue 
for their annual drama, as the brilliant witch- 
hazel in October brings up its separate epilogue. 
The truth is, Nature attitudinizes a little, liking 
to make a neat finish with everything, and then 
to begin again with é/at. Flowers seem spon- 
taneous things enough, but there is evidently a 
secret marshalling among them, that all may be 
brought out with due effect. As the country 
people say that so long as any snow is left on 
the ground more snow may be expected, for it 
must all vanish together at last,— so every 
seeker of spring flowers has observed how ac- 
curately they seem to move in platoons, with 
little straggling. Each species seems to burst 
upon us with a united impulse ; you may search 
for it day after day in vain, but the day when 
you find one specimen the spell is broken and 
you find twenty. By the end of April all the 
margins of the great poem of the woods are 
illuminated with these exquisite vignettes. 
Most of the early flowers either come before 
the full unfolding of their leaves, or else have in- 
conspicuous ones. Yet Nature always provides 
for her garlands the due proportion of green. 
The verdant and graceful sprays of the wild 
raspberry are unfolded very early, long before 
