94 THE POETRY OF FLOWERS 
FORGE T-M E-N 0 T. 
MVOSOTIS, OR MOUSE-EAR. 
Nowhere are the beautiful flowers of this plant found in such 
great abundance, as on the banks of a brook near the Luxum- 
bourg. The peasants call that brook the “Fairy Bath,” or the 
“ Cascade of the enchanted Oak.” These two names are given 
to it on account of the beauty of its source, whence it issues 
murmuring at the foot of a very old oak. The waters of the 
brook at first roll on from cascade to cascade, under a long vault 
of verdure, and afterward flow gently through an extensive 
meadow; then they appear to the enchanted eye as a long silver 
thread. The southern bank alone is covered with a thick 
tapestry of mouse-ear; its pretty flowers sparkle in July, clad 
in as bright a blue as that of the cerulean sky. Then they in¬ 
cline as if they took delight in admiring themselves in the 
crystal waters, whose purity is unequalled. On this spot the 
young girls frequently assemble to celebrate their birthdays by 
dancing on the borders of the brook. When crowned with 
these lovely flowers, we might suppose them to be nymphs 
celebrating games in honour of the naiad of the enchanted 
oak. 
It is related that a young couple, who were on the eve of be¬ 
ing united, while walking along the delightful banks of the 
Danube, saw one of these lovely flowers floating on the waves, 
which seemed ready to carry it away. The affianced bride ad¬ 
mired the beauty of the flower, and regretted its fatal destiny. 
The lover was induced to precipitate himself into the water, 
where he had no sooner seized the flower than he sank into the 
flood; but making a last effort, he threw the flower upon the 
shore, and at the moment of disappearing forever, he exclaim¬ 
ed, “ Vergils mich nicht ,” since which time this flower has been 
made emblematical, and taken the name of “ Forget-me-not.” 
