LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



Coiiriilhtrin }iuij(dl&. 



Ills lily is a Hower of the poets, 

 and its occurrence in our series 

 reminds us of the fact that 

 although the poets have much 

 to say <if Idles in general, they 

 have very little to say of lilies 

 in particular. The lily of the 

 valley is a happy exception, 

 for the poets condescend to 

 notice it li)' name, whereas of 

 the Turk's-cap, the martagon, 

 the pomponiuni, the ever-wel- 

 c(jme common white, and the 

 more than ever-welcome gold- 

 strijjed lily of Japan, the poets 

 do not say much, and appear 

 as though they would prefer 

 to say nothing at all. What 

 ails them that they can say 

 words enough to clothe a 

 mountain about lilies in gene- 

 ral, but nothing about lilies in particular ? Keats speaks of 

 this lily as an emblem of purity — 



" Valley-lilies, whiter still 

 Than Leda's love," 



which is very well in its way^ but the allusions to the 



SA 



