The Lily of the Valley. 
287 
“Fair flower, that, lapt in lowly glade, 
Dost hide beneath the greenwood shade, 
Than whom the vernal gale 
None fairer wakes on branch or spray, 
Our England’s lily of the May, 
Our lily of the vale. 
***** 
“ What though nor care nor art be thine, 
The loom to ply, the thread to twine, 
Yet born to bloom and fade; 
Thee, too, a lovelier robe arrays, 
Than, even in Israel’s brightest days, 
Her wealthiest king arrayed.” 
This writer versifies upon the probability of this flower 
being the “lily of the field” alluded to by Christ, but botanists 
assure us that it is the native of northern climes only, and 
would be unable to endure the warmth of Palestine. Alluding 
to the peculiar way in which the blossoms hang, and to their 
shape, Leigh Hunt prettily calls these flowerlings “ little illu¬ 
mination lamps.” In some parts of Europe the fragrance of 
this flower is most powerful. 
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