FLORAL CEREMONIES 
117 
Bending beneath the tears of pearly dawn, 
The snow-white lily glitters o’er the lawn; 
Lo! from the bough reclines the damask rose, 
And o’er the lily’s milk-white bosom glows j 
Fresh in the dew, far o’er the painted dales, 
Each fragrant herb her sweetest scent exhales.” 
Camoens. 
We must not now pause to describe how 
“ Pomona, fired with rival envy, views 
The glaring pride of Flora’s darling hues,” 
• 
And endeavors to outvie their beauty and fra¬ 
grance with her own luscious productions, but 
turn to the author of the Task.”—Listen to 
him ! —Oh, lady readers !— 
" The spleen is seldom folt where Flora reigns, 
The low’ring eye, the petulance,'the frown, 
And sullen sadness that o’ershade, distort, 
And mar the face of beauty, when no cause 
For such immeasurable woe appears : 
These Flora banishes, and gives the fair 
Sweet smiles, and bloom less transient than her own.” 
Cowper. 
From tne Roman Antiquities we learn, that 
“ Among the Latins, a bride on her wedding- 
