67 
THE CROCUS—PRIOR. 
Dainty young- thing 
Of life! thou venturous flower 
Who growest through tlie hard cold bower 
Of wintry spring. 
Thou various hued, 
Soft, voiceless bell, whose spire 
Rocks in the grassy leaves like wire 
In solitude. 
Like patience, thou 
Art quiet in thy earth. 
Instructing Hope that virtue’s birth 
Is feeling's vow. 
Thy fancied bride. 
The delicate Snowdrop, keeps 
Her home with thee; she wakes and sleeps 
Near thy true side. 
Will man but hear! 
A simple flower can tell 
What beauties in his mind should dwell 
Through passion’s sphere. 
The brilliant colours and woody growth of the Pyrus Japo- 
NICA make it contrast sti’ikingly with the pale and fragile Snow¬ 
drop, near whose modest bells this superb native of Japan may 
often be seen, exhibiting the singular appearance I have des¬ 
cribed in the illustrative lines. The buds and flowers of brightest 
crimson, with their golden-coloured anthers, come peering out 
through the snow wreaths, that lie lightly upon their trained 
stems ; and, to a far less fanciful eye than mine, might well 
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