TENNYSON AND BOTANY. 197 



" Love, unperceived, 

 Came, drew your pencil from you, made those eyes 

 Darker than darkest pansies, and that hair 

 More black than ash-buds in the front of March ; " 



a fact which all observers of the phenomena of the spring months will 

 recognize as accurate. 



The lime seems a special favorite of Mr. Tennyson, so lovingly and 

 frequently does he use it for illustration. There is much imitative 

 beauty in the well-known lines (also from "The Gardener's Daughter") 

 which form the conclusion of the description of a cathedral city — pos- 

 sibly Peterborough : 



"And all about the large lime-feathers low, 

 The lime a summer home of murmurous wings.'' 



The giving out of branches close to the ground is a noticeable habit 

 of the lime, as it is also, to some extent, of the elm, particularly in 

 Devonshire. The mode of growth and the development of the 

 branches are still further illustrated : 



"Not thrice your branching limes have blown 

 Since I beheld young Laurence dead." 



The epithet " branching " refers to another peculiarity — the number 

 and intricacy of the branches in the centre of the tree. On this point 

 Mr. Leo Grindon, a good authority, says : " So dense is the mass, that 

 to climb a full-grown tree is nearly impossible." The frequent use of 

 the lime for avenues and walks, a practice still more prevalent on the 

 Continent, is very pictorially stated : 



"and overhead, 

 The broad ambrosial aisles of lofty lime 

 Made noise with bees and breeze from end to end." 



Its spring-time is photographed in " Maud " in a single sentence, 



thus: 



" A million emeralds break from the ruby-budded lime." 



Every student of botany will be able to verify the correctness of 

 this line. The buds are peculiarly red, and the appearance of thou- 

 sands of them bursting at once is precisely as the poet describes it. 

 Elsewhere, the period immediately preceding the foliation of the tree 

 is sketched with remarkable truthfulness : 



" On such a time as goes before the leaf, 

 When all the wood stands in a mist of green, 

 And nothing perfect." 



The Spanish chestnut, Castanea, is not one of Mr. Tennyson's 

 trees ; but there are frequent references to the horse-chestnut, JEsculus. 

 The three chestnuts in "The Miller's Daughter" will be in the recol- 

 lection of most readers of his poetry. The appearance of the buds 



