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Pimpernel. 
known formerly as Anagallis, which signifies “a laugh and 
Pliny said that, when taken inwardly, it promoted mirth. This 
was probably the reason why poets styled it “the cheerful 
pimpernel.” 
There is a blue variety of this little blossom, as also a rose- 
coloured one, but this latter is very rare. A pure white kind, 
with a beautiful purple centre, is sometimes met with in Wales. 
Doubtless it was some such symbol floweret as this frail 
emblem of change which Holmes pictured in his “mind’s eye” 
when he sang : 
“Some years ago, a dark-eyed maid 
Was sitting in the shade— 
There’s something brings her to my mind 
In that young dreaming maid— 
And in her hand she held a flower, 
A flower whose speaking hue 
Said, in the language of the heart, 
‘ Believe the giver true.’ 
“And as she looked upon its leaves, 
The maiden made a vow 
To wear it when the bridal wreath 
Was woven for her brow. 
She watch’d the flower, as, day by day, 
The leaflets curled and died; 
But he who gave it never came 
To claim her for his bride. 
“ Oh, many a Summer’s morning glow 
Has lent the rose its ray, 
And many a Winter’s drifting snow 
Has swept its bloom away; 
But she has kept that faithless pledge 
To this her Winter hour, 
And keeps it still, herself alone, 
And wasted like the flower.” 
How appropriate are the following words of Adelaide Procter 
to this frail emblem of a frailer joy : 
“Like hopes, perfumed and bright, 
So lately shining, wet with dew and tears, 
Trembling in morning light, 
I saw them change to dark and anxious fears 
Before the night 1” 
