146 
DICTIONARY OF THE 
Silence, White Rose. See p. 43. 
Silliness, Scarlet Geranium. See p. 70. 
Simplicity, Wild Single Rose. 
Sincerity, Fern. 
Thomas Miller says, “ The very name of the fern calls 
up the forest, where it still lives on, though ages ago the 
mighty oaks have been felled — there it still spreads, true 
to its native soil, the hardy image of deep-rooted sincerity. 
It is associated with our oldest fairy legends, and our simple 
ancestors believed that they had but to find the true fern 
seed, and carry it about with them, to become invisible.” 
Skill, Spider Orchis. 
This flower resembles the insect into which Arachne was 
transformed by Minerva, and which, under its hideous form, 
has lost nothing of her skill. 
• 
Sleep, White Poppy. 
The palace of Somnus was a cave near the Cimmerians. 
Poppies grew before the entrance, and Morpheus, his prime 
minister, watched over his couch, a vase in one hand and 
poppies in the other. The poets have drawn many fim y 
similes from this flower, as for instance,— 
“ As full-blown poppies, overcharged with rain, 
Decline the head, and, drooping, kiss the plain, 
So sinks the youth.” 
Pope's Homer. 
“ But pleasures are like poppies spread ; 
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.” 
Burns. 
Solitude, Heath. See p. 31. 
