THE HYACINTH 
165 
CHAPTER XVn. 
Hyacinth — Oriental Hyacinth- — Colours of Flowers — 
Plants reared in Water — Fable of the Ancients respect- 
ing the Hyacinth — Wild Hyacinth — Star of Bethlehem 
— Asphodel. 
“ Blush not if o’er your heart be stealing 
A love for things which have no feeling.” 
The hyacinth is a favourite flower of the cultivator, and 
much cherished on the garden-bed. It seems, however, 
more especially the flower of the lady florist, and to belong 
as much to the parlour as the garden. It may be reared 
there when the atmosphere is chilly, and the earth too 
damp to allow the delicate to venture abroad and tend 
the flowers out of doors. To those wdio are fond of flowers 
there is pleasure in watching the progress of the beautiful 
wfliite fibres which descend from the bulbs into the water, 
tinged with the hue of purple or green, which is reflected 
from the vase which contains them, and in watching the 
gradual expansion of the beautiful bells which crown the 
stem. The lament of Milton’s Eve when quitting the 
lovely bowers of the fairest garden which this world ever 
knew, accords well with female feelings generally on the 
subject of flowers. To a woman her flowers seem almost 
as her friends. 
Must I then leave thee. Paradise? thus leave 
Thee, native soil ! these happy walks and shades 
Fit haunt of gods ! where I had hoped to spend 
Quiet, though sad, the respite of that day 
That must be mortal to us both. O flowers, 
That never will in other climate grow ; 
