V 



"The Cowslip 



FEW of our wild flowers give intenser 

 pleasure than the Cowslip, yet per- 

 haps there is scarcely any whose 

 peculiar beauty depends so much 

 upon locality and surroundings. We feel 

 this especially when walking through some 

 rich undulating pasture-country with well- 

 grown trees and hedges, and far away 

 from all thoughts of town, if we come 

 suddenly upon a meadow with thousands 

 of these flowers scattered over it like 

 white flocks of early lambs ; and then, 

 as we gather one after another the 

 bunches of pale unequal fingers, how 

 delicious it is to inhale the sweet odour, 

 and look into the quaintly-spotted cups ! 

 There is a homely simplicity about the 

 Cowslip, much like that of the Daisy, 

 though more pensive — the quiet sober 

 look of an unpretending country-girl, not 

 strikingly beautiful in feature or attire, 



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