CORNFLOWER. 
(. Delicacy .) 
“ Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell 
If my lover loves me, and loves me well.” 
Anonymous. 
is 
HE classic name of the bright blue Cornflower is 
Cyanus; and it was so named after a worshipper 
of Flora, who made garlands for public festivities 
out of various sorts of wild flowers, and who lingered from 
morn till eve amid the corn weaving the blossoms that 
she had collected. Its petals are used for divination, as 
the thistle-down is. 
This flower, although now so common in our cornfields, 
is thought not to be indigenous, but to have been brought 
from the East amongst some imported grain. 
Its deep blue hue is so deep that it almost approaches 
a mirple, and as such the poet addresses it: 
“ There is a flower, a purple flower, 
Sown by the wind, nursed by the shower, 
O’er which Love breathed a powerful spell, 
The truth of whispering hope to tell* 
Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell 
If my lover loves me, and loves me Well: 
So may the fall of the morning dew 
Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue.” 
