INTRODUCTION. 
riii 
‘‘ Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer: 
They are nature’s offering — their place is there ! 
They speak of hope to the fainting heart; 
With a voice of promise they come and part ; 
They sleep in dust through the winter hours, 
They break forth in glory—bring flowers, bright 
flowers !” 
Mrs. Browning, in her poem of “A Flower 
in a Letter,” tells us that 
“ 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. 
“ And such being scattered on a grave, 
Whoever mourneth there, may have 
A type which seemeth worthy 
Of that fair body hid below, 
Which bloomed on earth a time ago. 
Then perished as the earthy. 
