214 
THE POETRY OF F LOW E R S 
SOLITUDE. 
HEATH. 
The foliage of this plant is evergreen, of varied and beauti¬ 
ful shapes, and on examination is lound as pleasing as its sin¬ 
gular blossom. In our floral hieroglyphics it is made emblem¬ 
atical of solitude; and thus, when the rustic lover offers his 
mistress a bouquet of heath and pansies, she understands that 
if his solitude were charmed by her society his heart would be 
at ease. 
There are now about four hundred different species of heath, 
of such variety of colours and forms that no pen can describe 
them. On some we observe little waxlike flowers, and others 
present us with pendent pearls; some are adorned with coraline 
beads, while others seem to resemble the golden trumpet, or 
tempting berries, or porcelain of bell or bottle shape. Globes 
of alabaster hang on the slender spray of some, and others, 
again, remind us of Lilliputian trees, bedecked with Turkish 
turbans in miniature. “ Their colours are not less varied than 
their shape, while the foliage is equally beautiful in its apparent 
imitation of all the mountainous trees, from the Scottish fir to 
Lebanon’s boasted cedar.” 
A heath’s green wild lay present to his view, 
With shrubs and field-flowers decked of varied hue. 
Oh! to lie down in wilds apart, 
Where man is seldom seen or heard, 
In still and ancient forests, where 
Mows not his scythe, ploughs not his share, 
With the shy deer and cooing bird ! 
