34 POETICAL LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
it, until slumber settled down, and in dreams they were 
carried away to far-off dells and dingles; to valleys 
where the nightingale made music all summer long: 
and they thought of Eve before she fell, and believed 
that somewhere in the earth there still existed an 
unvisited Paradise. They pictured a rustic home 
which the amiable Jasmine overhung, without know¬ 
ing that with such her own was garlanded. They 
conjured up a porch twined over with Moss-roses, 
unconscious that the threshold over which her beauty 
passed, was wreathed with the same queenly flowers. 
In their sleep they sighed over perfumed beds of Pinks, 
not knowing that her own garden was covered with 
them; and they built up an imaginary abode for Love 
to dwell in, before the winged god had either alighted 
upon, or visited the spot. Many a sigh was sent over 
the hills which overlooked that little cottage, and many 
a prayer wafted towards the happy valley in which she 
dwelt; but the bees murmured round her home, the 
butterflies sat swinging upon her flowers, morning and 
evening the birds swelled their anthems upon the 
breeze, and all night long the brook went singing to 
itself beneath her window, and, saving an affection for 
all these sweet sights and sounds, and a heart at peace 
