8 
FLORAL POESY. 
“ Here are red Hoses, gathered at thy cheeks,— 
The white were all too happy to look white : 
For love the Hose, for faith the Lily speaks ; 
It withers in false hands, but here ’tis bright ! 
u Dost love sweet Hyacinth ? Its scented leaf 
Curls manifold,—all love’s delights blow double : 
’Tis said this floweret is inscribed with grief,— 
But let that hint of a forgotten trouble. 
“ I plucked the Primrose at night’s dewy noon; 
Like Hope, it showed its blossoms in the night;— 
’Twas, like Endymion, watching for the Moon! 
And here are Sunflowers, amorous of light! 
“ These golden Buttercups are April’s seal,— 
The Daisy stars her constellations be : 
These grew so lowly, I was forced to kneel, 
Therefore I pluck no Daisies but for thee ! 
“ Here’s Daisies for the morn, Primrose for gloom, 
Pansies and Roses for the noontide hours :— 
A wight once made a dial of their bloom,— 
So may thy life be measured out by flowers! ” 
Our readers will perceive that the symbolism and 
language of flowers were not unknown to the poet. 
Mrs. Browning says truly and charmingly 
“ Love’s language may be talked with these ; 
To work out choicest sentences, 
No blossoms can be meeter ; 
And, such being used in Eastern bowers, 
Young maids may wonder if the flowers 
Or meanings be the sweeter. 
“ And such being strewn before a bride, 
Her little foot may turn aside, 
Their longer bloom decreeing, 
Unless some voice’s whispered sound 
Should make her gaze upon the ground 
Too earnestly for seeing. 
