40 
FABLES OF FLORA 
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‘ No gradual bloom Is wanting; from the bud — 
First-born of Spring! — to Summer’s murky tribes; 
Nor hyacinths of purest virgin white, 
Low bent, and blushing inward, nor Jonquils 
Of potent fragrance, nor Narcissus fair, 
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still.’ 
Thomson. 
Milton names it, in his ‘ Lament for Lycidas.’ 
‘ Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed, 
And Daffodillies fill their cups with tears, 
To strew the laureat hearse where Lycid lies.’ 
Shakspeare, in Ms ‘ Winter’s Tale,’ speaks of 
‘Daffodils, 
That come before the swallow dares, and take 
The winds of March with beauty.’ 
It was an annual custom of the old English 
shepherds, to sprinkle the bosom of the Severn 
with flowers. Milton relates the history of the 
goddess of this river, and says, 
‘ The shepherds, at their festivals, 
Carol her goodness, lored in rustic lays, 
And throw sweet garland-wreaths into her stream, 
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy Daffodils. 
In the ‘ Garden of Adonis ’ 
‘ Grew every sort of flourc, 
To which sad lovers were transformed of yore | 
Foolish Narcisse, that likes the watery shore.’ 
Spensbb. 
