220 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
before the hour of four in the afternoon, on which 
account it is sometimes called Four o’clock Flower. 
But, when the weather is moderately cool and the 
sun obscured, these shy blossoms remain open the 
whole day. 
Philips remarks that, however these timid flowers 
may appear in the presence of the god of day, they 
stand the blaze of the strongest artificial light as 
cheerfully as other belles who delight to shine at the 
same hour with this emblem of timidity. 
We cannot resist the temptation of quoting here 
an exquisite little poem by Mrs. Hemans, on “ Night- 
scented Flowers,” which originally appeared in the 
Forget Me Not. 
“ Call back your odours, lovely flowers, 
From the night-wind call them back ; 
And fold your leaves till the laughing hours 
Come forth in the sunbeam’s track. 
“ The lark lies couched in the grassy nest, 
And the honey-bee is gone; 
And all bright things are away to rest — 
^ Why watch ye here alone ?” 
“ Nay, let our shadowy beauty bloom, 
When the stars give quiet light ; 
And let us offer our faint perfume 
On the silent shrine of night. 
