128 
FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
EARLY YOUTH. 
Primrose .— Primula. 
“ And here’s the meek 
And soft-ey’d primrose.” 
Hurdis 
The age between childhood and womanhood 
is represented by this early blossom, whose 
delicate perfume and modest colour so agree¬ 
ably attend the path to summer. 
“ Youth is the vision of a morn. 
That flies the coming day : 
It is the blossom of the thorn. 
Which rude winds sweep away. 
’Tis like the charming hue that glows 
Upon a virgin’s face ; 
Till care hath nipp’d her fading rose. 
And wither’d every grace.” 
Cunningham. 
The common primrose is dedicated to St. 
Agatha; the red variety, aculis, to St. Ade- 
* 
laide ; the early red, Verna rubra , to St. Theo¬ 
dora ; and the polyanthus to Sf. Catehrine de 
Ricci. 
