AND FLOWERS OF POETRY. 43 
led spikes of blue and white flowers from seven to fifteen inches 
long. This they regarded as the palladium of their chastity. 
In modern times, the religious orders of France drink a water 
distilled from its branches, to dispel from their minds, when in 
solitude, all earthly thoughts. Many orders of monks habit¬ 
ually wear a knife whose haft is made of the wood of agnus 
castus, to fortify their hearts against external influence. In 
fine this pretty shrub has been from time immemorial the em¬ 
blem of coldness. 
The frigid and unfeeling thrive the best; 
And a warm heart in this cold world is like 
A beacon light, wasting its feeble frame, 
Upon the wintry deep, that feels it not, 
And trembling, with each pitiless gust, that blows, 
Till its faint fire is spent. 
Henry Neele. 
CONSOLATION. 
SNOWDROP. 
The north wind whistles, and the hoar-frost clothes the ver¬ 
dure-despoiled trees; an uniform white carpet covers the earth 
— the birds withhold their tuneful song—and the sealed waters 
cease to murmur as they roll; the rays of the sun, enfeebled 
by the density of our atmosphere, shed a gloomy light over our 
fields; and the heart of man is sad while all nature reposes in 
torpid tranquillity. 
Thus Madame de la Tour describes the state of nature, when 
suddenly a delicate flower pierces the veil of snow which had 
