“I 
—_ 
DECLARATION OF LOVE. 
TULIP. 
Then comes the tulip race, where beauty plays 
Her idle freaks ; from family diffused 
To family, as flies the father dust, 
The varied colours run; and while they break 
On the charmed eye, the exulting florist marks, 
With secret pride, the wonders of his hand. 
THOMSON. 
On the banks of the Bosphorus the tulip is 
the emblem of inconstancy; but it is also the 
symbol of the most violent love. The wild 
tulip is found in the fields of Byzantium, with 
its crimson petals and goldenheart. The petals 
are compared to fire, and the yellow heart to 
brimstone ; and when presented by an admiring 
swain to his mistress, it is supposed to declare, 
that such is the effect of the fair one’s beauty, 
that if he sees her only for a moment, his face 
will be as fire, and his heart will be reduced to 
a coal. 
The tulip was called ¢ulipan, or turban, 
from the similarity of its corolla to the superb 
head-dress of the barbarous Turks, who almost 
worshipped its elegant stem and the beautiful 
vase-like flower which surmounts it. They 
never ceased to admire the gorgeous hues of gold 
and silver, of purple, lilac, and violet, of deep 



