









INCONSTANCY. 
EVENING PRIMROSE. 
ir is uncertain when this beautiful flower 
was first introduced into England, though we 
know that it was brought from Virginia to 
Padua in the year 1619. It is a general fa- 
vourite with our poets, who give it a very 
different character to that we have assigned to 
it in floral language. We presume that it 
has been made the emblem of Inconstancy on 
account of the transient duration of its flowers. 
It opens between six and seven o'clock in the 
evening. We extract the following lines on 
this flower from Clare’s Rural Muse :— 
When once the sun sinks in the wesé, 
And dew-drops pearl the Evening’s breast ; 
Almost as pale as moon-beams are, 
Or its companionable star, 
The evening primrose opes anew 
Its delicate blossoms to the dew; 
And, hermit-like, shunning the light, 
Wastes its fair bloom upon the Night, 
Who, blindfold to its fond caresses, 
Knows not the beauty he possesses. 
Thus it blooms on while Night is by; 
When Day looks out with open eye, 
*Bashed at the gaze it cannot shun, 
It faints, and withers, and is gone. 
