SNOWDROP. 
21 
THE SNOWDROP. 
WORDSWORTH. 
Lone flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as thev 
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend 
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend, 
Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day 
Storms, sallying from the mountain tops, waylay 
The rising sun, and on the plains descend, 
Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend 
Whose zeal outruns his promise ! Blue-eyed May 
Shall soon behold this border thickly set 
With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing 
On the soft west wind and his frolic peers ; 
Nor will I then thy modest grace forget, 
Chaste snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring, 
And pensive monitor of fleeting years ! 
ORIGIN OF THE SNOWDROP. 
G. W. 
No fading flowers in Eden grew, 
Nor autumn’s withering spread 
Among the trees a browner hue, 
To show the leaves were dead; 
But through the groves and shady dells, 
Waving their bright immortal bells 
Were amaranths and asphodels, 
Undying in a place that knew 
A golden age the whole year through. 
