INTRODUCTION. 
3 
“ 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. 
“And such being wreathed for worldly feast. 
Across the brimming cup some guest 
Their rainbow colours viewing, 
May feel them, with a silent start, 
The covenant his childish heart 
With Nature made,—renewing.” 
And Leigh Hunt playfully declares :— 
“ An exquisite invention this, 
Worthy of love’s most honied kiss, 
This art of writing billet doux 
In buds and odours, and bright hues ; 
In saying all one feels and thinks 
In clever daffodils and pinks, 
Uttering (as well as silence may) 
The sweetest words the sweetest way: 
How fit, too, for the lady’s bosom, 
The place where billet doux repose ’em. 
“ How charming in'some rural spot, 
Combining love with garden plot, 
At once to cultivate one’s flowers, 
And one’s epistolary powers, 
Growing one’s own choice words and fancies 
In orange-tubs and beds of pansies ; 
One’s sighs and passionate declarations • 
In odorous rhet’ric of carnations ; 
Seeing how far one’s stocks will reach ; 
Taking due care one’s flowers of speech 
To guard from blight as well as bathos, 
And watering every day one’s pathos. 
B 2 
