HOW THE ROSE BECAME RED. 
87 
dreamy, narcotic qualities is well chosen. Many of the 
double Poppies which are cultivated in gardens have a 
very elegant appearance. It also forms a very beauti¬ 
ful ornament about the borders of our corn-fields, being 
pleasanter to the sight than to the smell; for the fra- 
grance is very unwholesome, and on this account it is 
called by the country people the Headache. It is also 
called the Red-cap, and Corn-rose, in different parts of 
England. In the heathen fables the Poppy is first said 
to have been raised by the goddess Ceres, to console 
her for the loss of her daughter Proserpine, who, while 
gathering flowers in the fields of Enna, was carried off 
by Pluto; and ever since then the Goddess of Harvest 
has cultivated it amidst the golden wheat. In some 
parts the country maidens have still a belief that they 
can test the affections of their lovers by the secret 
power which the Poppy possesses ; that if one of the 
petals was placed upon the palm of the hand, and 
when struck smartly it made a loud report, their 
swains were true, while if it burst in silence, it foretold 
that their lovers were false. In allusion to this, there 
is an old stanza, written by whom I know not, which 
says— 
