THE POETRY OF FLOWERS. 
113 
Some three feet high, with stem erect, the plant un¬ 
aided grows, 
And at the summit, now deflect, the strange-formed 
flower blows. 
Field Flowers. 
THE COWSLIP.— Early Joys. 
Cowslips with— 
The five small drops of red 
In the golden chalice shed, 
are said to possess the virtue of retaining for youth its 
beauty, or even of restoring it when lost. 
Shakspeare, when speaking of the fairy queen, 
says:— 
The cowslips tall her pensioners be. 
In their gold coats spots you see ; 
Those be rubies, fairy favours; 
In those freckles live their savours. 
Adding in the same fantastic strain 
Where the bee sucks, there lurk I; 
In a Cowslip’s bell I lie; 
There I crouch when owls do cry. 
Miss Taylor, in her verses entitled “ Leafy Spring,” 1 
thus extols Cowslips :— 
On pastures wide and green, upon a thousand stems, 
Fit for a fairy queen to wear for precious gems, 
Young Cowslips smile at earth and sky, 
With sweetest breath and golden eye. 
H 
