66 Floral Poetry. 
Together intertwined and trammelled fresh : 
The Vine of glossy sprout; the Ivy mesh, 
Shading its Ethiop berries; and Woodbine, 
Of velvet leaves and bugle blooms divine; 
Convolvulus in streaked vases flush; 
The Creeper, mellowing for an autumn blush ; 
And Virgin’s-bower, trailing airily, 
With others of the sisterhood. Hard by, 
Stood serene Cupids watching silently. 
One, kneeling to a lyre, touched the strings, 
Muffling to death the pathos with his wings; 
And, ever and anon, uprose to look 
At the youth’s slumber; while another took 
A Willow bough, distilling odorous dew, 
And shook it on his hair; another flew 
In through the woven roof, and fluttering wise, 
Rained Violets upon his sleeping eyes. 
Keats. 
THE AMARANTH. 
G ROWNS inwove with Amaranth and gold, 
Immortal Amaranth, a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life, 
Began to bloom ; but soon, for man’s offence, 
To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows 
And flowers aloft, shading the F'ount of Life, 
And where the River of Bliss, through midst of Heaven, 
Rolls o’er Elysian flowers her amber stream ; 
With these, that never fade, the spirits elect 
Bind their resplendent locks. 
Milton. 
