I FUNEKAL FLOWERS. 153 I 
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I own country, first giving a look into the Grecian j 
i Archipelago, to see if we can trace any remains 
of the floral customs of the ancient dwellers in [ 
those “ rocky islands of the .^gean sea.” ' 
I Hush ! tread softly through the dusky cor¬ 
ridor,” and look into that dimly-lighted joom ; 
what see we there ? ’Tis the Corsair’s bride— 
j poor Medora !—stretched lifeless on the bier :— 
I “ In life itself she was so still and fair, ; 
That death with gentler aspect withered there; 
And the cold flowers her colder hand contained, 
1 In that last grasp so tenderly were strained, 
! As if she scarcely felt, but feigned a sleep, ■ 
I And made it almost mockery to weep.”— Btron. | 
! In the Levant, then, we are told, by him who | 
drew this picture—it is still the custom to strew ' 
flowers on the bodies of the dead, and in the I 
hands of young persons to place a nosegay. 
Can we not And a dirge for this heart-broken 
! lady ? Aye, here it is, very sweet and appro- 
I priate :— 
j 
“Weep not, weep not, she is dead, 
Cold and dreamless now she lyeth 
Where the damp dull clay is spread, 
And the death-worm sigheth. 
