FLOWER EMBLEMS. 
T HOU first-born of the year’s delight, 
Pride of the dewy glade, 
In vernal green and virgin white 
Thy vestal robes arrayed:— 
’Tis not because thy drooping form 
Sinks graceful on its nest, 
When chilly shades from gathering storm 
Affright thy tender breast:— 
Nor for yon river-islet wild 
Beneath the willow spray, 
Where, like the ringlets of a child, 
Thou weav’st thy circle gay :— 
’Tis not for these I love thee dear— 
Thy shy, averted smiles 
To Fancy bode a joyous year, 
One of Life’s fairy isles. 
They twinkle to the wintry moon, 
And cheer the ungenial day, 
And tell us, all will glisten soon 
As green and bright as they. 
IT T?DT 
ND thou, in thy warm nook beside our bed, 
Peacefully wrapt in slumber infantine, 
Thou treasure newly found of springing joy, 
Thou jewel in the coronet of love, 
Thou little flower, a choice plant’s earliest gem, 
Thou brightest morning-star by Love divine 
Set in the forehead of the hopeful East,— 
Thou reckest not of time; our human names 
Mould not thy varying moods: if marking aught, 
Measuring thy days by still-expected hours 
Of soft appliance to thy mother’s breast: 
And yet methinks so hallowed is the time, 
That even thy cushioned cheek hath trace in it 
Clothed in a deeper and peculiar calm. 
Alford. 
