INTRODUCTION. 
19 
with delight over the blooming parterre. The 
bud of infancy, the half expanded flower of 
youth, the perfect blooms of the meridian of 
life, and the drooping leaves of closing ex¬ 
istence, are here all seen and noted. No 
wonder that man, in the beautiful simplicity 
of earlier [times, loved flowers, and hence 
formed an eloquent language, that spoke to 
the heart in a ‘ still small voice,’ more touch¬ 
ing than the tenderest accents. No wonder 
that the most lovely ornament for the young 
virgin was a chaplet of fair flowers; the most 
glorious distinction of the warrior a wreath of 
bays. No wonder that the bier of the early 
dead was strewed with these passing em¬ 
blems of a passing existence.” 
The flowers that we behold each year, 
In chequered meads their heads to rear, 
Now rising from their tomb, 
E’en these do cry, 
That though men die, 
New life from death may come. 
HAGTHORPE. 
May-day— May-day, that revives such joy- 
. c 2 
