Vi? 
i» h o rt o vn. 
& 
t\l)OLlora (Hailrtllt'usis. Natural Order: Ericaceae — Heath Family. 
pT is in Canada and the New England States that the Rhodora 
is to be most frequently met with, growing in moist places 
among the mountains, or in the bogs. It is very handsome 
when in bloom, as each branch bears on its tip a cluster of 
stemless flowers while there is yet no foliage visible. After 
the blossoming season is over, the leaves make their appear- 
The shrub is from two to three feet high, is closely allied to 
the Rhododendron, and derives its name from its resemblance to the 
Jbfuiltj in 
'T'HE bloom of opening flowers’ unsullied beauty, 
Softness and sweetest innocence she wears, 
And looks like nature in the world’s first spring. 
— Rowe. 
T N May, when sea winds pierced our solitudes, 
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, 
Spreading its leafless bloom in a damp nook, 
To please the desert and the sluggish brook: 
The purple petals, fallen in the pool, 
Made the black waters with their beauty gay; 
Here might the redbird come his plumes to cool, 
And court the flower that cheapens his array. 
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why 
This charm is wasted on the marsh and sky, 
Dear, tell them, that if eyes were made for seeing, 
Then beauty is its own excuse for being. 
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose! 
I never thought to ask; I never knew, 
, But in my simple ignorance suppose [you. 
The selfsame Power brought me there, bro’t 
—Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
/N MAIDEN! silent sitting, 
^ Braiding still thy golden hair; 
Round thy head the bees are flitting, 
Deeming thee a lily fair. —o. Hamlin. 
A H i 
thou wonder among women, 
am fretted to the heart, 
Thinking how my words are few 
To depict thee as thou wert: 
What I will, I cannot do! 
T 
—Howard Glyndon. 
'HINE eyes’ clear fervor dwell 
Passionate on my own glad eyes so often, 
Because I know thou art 
My life’s diviner part, 
My other tenderer heart to soothe, to soften. 
— Edgar Fawcett. 
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