POETRY OF FLOWERS. 57 
tender legend of the olden time; to us it is 
known as Agrimony , and as the type of thank¬ 
fulness, a feeling which every one must expe¬ 
rience, not only when gazing upon this sugges¬ 
tive “ floral apostle/' but when regarding any 
“Floral bough that swingeth 
And tolls its perfume on the passing air.” 
The delicate Harebell, the favorite of poets 
and the rival of the heather in the strong love 
of old Scotia, belongs to this timorous group of 
flowers, and, on account of its tender blossoms 
and slender, fragile-looking stem, has been made 
the emblem of love’s frailty. Its azure bell 
hangs lightly upon its shivering stalk and 
‘‘rings to the mosses underneath.” With a 
mien so frail, one dreads every moment to be¬ 
hold its beauties rent to pieces and destroyed by 
the rude wind; and yet, so marvellously is this 
little floral elf constructed, that it will often 
successfully bi’ave the battle of the rough ele¬ 
ments and outlast the ruffian breeze that lays 
the monster oak of a thousand years shattered 
upon the soil. 
“ The choicest buds in Flora’s train let other fingers 
twine, 
Let others snatch the damask rose, or wreathe the 
eglantine; 
