INTRODUCTION - . 
11 
LOVER. 
“ I give to thee a faded wreath, 
Teaching thee, alas ! too well, 
How 1 spent my latest breath, 
Seeking all my truth to tell; 
But thy coldness made me die 
Victim of thy cruelty. 
LADY. 
“ I give to thee the honey-flower, 
Courteous, best, and bravest knight: 
Fragrant in the summer shower, 
Shrinking from the sunny light : 
May it not an emblem prove 
Of untold, but tender love ? ” 
Flowers also are used for divination. All readers of 
Goethe will remember Marguerite’s flower. Our own 
poet Lowell sends the following pretty lines on the 
subject, with a pressed flower :— 
“ This little flower from afar, 
Hath come from other lands to thine ; 
For once its white and drooping star 
Could see its shadow in the Rhine. 
“ Perchance some fair-haired German maid 
Hath plucked one from the self-same stalk, 
And numbered over, half afraid, 
Its petals in her evening walk. 
“ ‘ He loves me* loves me not! ’ she cries ; 
‘ He loves me more than earth or heaven 1 * 
And then glad, tears have filled her eyes 
To find the number was uneven. 
“ And thou must count its petals weli, 
Because it is a gift from me : 
And the last one of all shall tell f 
Something I’ve often told to thee« 
