250 
the poetky of fldwers. 
the PRIMROSE OF THE ROCK. 
BY WORDSWORTH. 
A rock there is whose lonely front 
The passing traveller slights ; 
Yet there the glow-worms hang their lamp*, 
Like stars, at various heights; 
And one coy primrose to that rock 
The vernal breeze invites. 
What hideous warfare hath been waged 
What kingdoms overthrown, 
Since first I spied that primrose tuft, 
And mark’d it for my own ! 
A lasting link in nature’s chain 
From highest heaven let down. 
The flowers, still faithful to the stems, 
Their fellowship renew; 
The stems are faithful to the root,, 
That worketh out of view; 
And to the rock the root adheres, 
In every fibre true. 
Close clings to earth the living rock. 
Though threatening still to fall; 
The earth is constant to her sphere, 
And God upholds then all; 
