23 FABLES OF FLORA. 
THE PERIWINKLE. 
Tiie Periwinkle is the emblem of friendship. 
Thetis, the mother of Achilles, is represented by 
the ancients as 1 a female of dark complexion, 
with dishevelled hair about her shoulders, and 
upon her head a coronet of periwinkle.’’ 
This pretty flower has not been forgotten by 
the poets. AVordsworth thus alludes to it: 
‘ Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower, 
The Periwinkle trailed its wreaths | 
And’t is my faith that every flower 
Enjoys the air it breathes.’ 
Chaucer, who seems to have loved all flowers, 
speaks of the 
* Fresh pervinke rich of hewe.’ 
FABLE VIII. 
The Periwinkle. 
A maiden wandering through a glade 
Of gleaming sun and waving shade, 
Saw, o’er a little grassy steep, 
A lowly Periwinkle creep. 
