POETRY OK FLOWERS. 
23 
In former times an abundance of blossom on 
the almond-tree was regarded as the omen of a 
fruitful season. 
AMARANTH. PRINCE’S FEATHER. 
Amaranthus . Class 19; Order 5. 
IMMORTALITY—UNFADING. 
Oh, not for the hue of thy roseate cheek, 
Nor the dimpled rubies that smile and speak; 
Oh, not for the flash of thy glowing eye, 
Nor the eloquent sound of thy soft, low sigh, 
Do I love thee, bright being of passion and grace: 
’Tis the soul, the sweet soul in thy beautiful face, 
The spirit immortal, the charm that ne’er dies, 
That from death and the gloom of the grave will arise ; 
It is this that enthrals me : and thou unto me 
Art the embryo, only, of what thou shalt be: 
For thy mortal shall die; but the beaut}' I love 
Hath an endless existence and progress above ! 
Most poetical of all flowers in meaning is the 
Amaranth. Christened by the Greeks “never- 
fading,” because of the lasting nature of its 
bloom, it has been selected as the symbol of 
immortality, and as such it has ever been asso¬ 
ciated with death, significant that that is the 
portal through which the soul must pass in its 
search after the undying blossoms of eternity. 
