THE QUEEN OF MAY. 
119 
forth among the hedges crowned with May—some 
momentary pleasure in the remembrance of what 
had been ; and fondly hope that he who had crushed 
her heart, would return again, sorrowful and con¬ 
trite, and heal the aching wound which he had 
made. Amid this sad hope she would send forth 
a sigh over the landscape, as she gazed upon some 
thatched and tranquil cottage, which stood half 
buried amid the dreamy rustling of the trees, covet¬ 
ing so calm a retreat, centered amid the beauties 
of nature, and surrounded by sequestered paths 
which led to the homes of hundreds of flowers: 
for such sweet solitudes does Grief pine for. Such 
retiring places are sought after by wounded love, 
who looks for companionship amongst the mute 
flowers, and breathes her sorrows and her hopes 
into the listening blossoms, as if believing that the 
ministering spirits which are sent down to comfort 
and cheer the broken-hearted, have taken up their 
abode amidst these green and silent retreats; as 
if she there hoped to find that repose which has 
so long been broken, and to rest after her love 
had been wrecked, on the very shore where she 
trusted to find such secure anchorage. Nor is the 
sweetness of Love found alone in the possession, 
no more than pleasure can for ever exist without 
the alloy of pain ; for as a brief separation enhances 
the happiness and anticipation of the meeting— as 
