THE POETRY OF FLOWERS. 
99 
THE ACACIA.— Platonic Love. 
It is a gentle and affectionate thought 
That, in immeasurable heights above us, 
At our first birth the wreath of love was woven, 
With sparkling stars for flowers. 
Coleridge. 
Love, the last best gift of heaven; 
Love, gentle, holy, pure. 
Keble. 
THE ACANTHUS— The Arts. 
The roof 
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade, 
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew, 
Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side 
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, 
Fenced up the verdant wall. 
Milton. 
THE COMMON ALMOND.— Thoughtlessness. 
The hope, in dreams, of a happier hour 
That alights on misery’s brow, 
Springs out of the silvery almond flower, 
That blooms on a leafless bough. 
Lalla Bookh. 
The almond-bloom doth show. 
When fully spread upon the leafless tree, • 
A whiteness like the drifted snow. 
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