Part 7

The docile, swift Reindeer! Oh, when I was a child, I loved all strange fantastic tales, the wondrous and the wild; I read about the “Hundred Nights,” in the Arabian Tales, That tell of Genii, sprites, and dwarfs, of gold and diamond vales. I read of Eastern gardens and palaces so rare, And of Sultans and Sultanas, the cruel and the fair. I read of Robin Crusoe! Ah! how I loved that book! Nor even yet hath its strong charm wholly my mind forsook. I read of voyages without end; of travels many too, And fairy-tales and story-books--of these, good sooth, not few. But I remember, more than all, I loved to think and hear Of thee--thou strong and beautiful--thou swift and good Reindeer! I remember in my earliest home, a dim antique beaufet, And high upon its many shelves, things manifold were set. Some piles of dark old books there were, amid the motley crowd, And when tall enough to reach them, oh! glad was I, and proud. And there I found old Æsop, whose fables we all know, And Cookery-books of ancient dates, most grim and well worn too. These I just peeped at, and put back--and still went groping on Deep into that small mine of wealth that I so late had won. Soon with some daring tugs, I brought a lumbering volume slap Down on the floor! I sat down too, and dragged it on my lap. The binding was antique and worn--the title-page was out, And yet the treasure won from me a child’s exultant shout; For there were pictures many, of beast, and fish, and bird; And _thou_ wert there, thou good Reindeer, of whom so much I’d heard. And that great heavy ancient book was such a prize to me! It told me of the monstrous whale, and the small good honey-bee; It told me of the elephant, the tiger, the gazelle, Of the vast luxuriant jungles, and the lone, bright desert well; Of humming-birds that sip the dew of flowers as they fly, Of prairies wild, and wide, and green; of snowy mountains high: I read there of the Northern sea, where iceberg islands float, And crush the great three-masted ship, as ’twere a cockle-boat; I read about the harmless seals, and the shaggy Polar bear, And the mighty troops of hungry wolves that roam and riot there. I read of Nature’s glorious works, and wondering went on, And found before me pleasures, whose round will ne’er be done. And in my good old-fashioned book I read of herb and tree, That were food for man, and beast and bird, and for the honey-bee. I read of grove-like banyans, of cedars broad and tall, Of the lofty towering palm, and the Moss and lichen small. And then I found how wondrously the poor Reindeer was fed, When over all his frozen land deep winter’s snow lay spread; How GOD had bid the barren ground produce this strange small thing, On which whole countless herds of deer are ever pasturing: How, in the woods of scattered pine abundantly it grows, And clothes the earth for many a mile beneath the trackless snows; How the sagacious Reindeer delves, and scents his onward way, Till he reaches his scant mossy food, that doth his toil repay. Oh! see him with his master’s sledge! How swift they glide along, Like a bird, or a fairy car I’ve read of, in some quaint old song. Away! o’er the boundless snowy waste, so glittering and bright: Away!--through the dark pine forest, as gloomy as the night: Away o’er the frozen lake, the river, and the fen, Away! Away!--Ye have winsome steeds, ye little Lapland men! Ay, winsome steeds in sooth, with their antlers branched and high; So sure of foot, and swift of pace, they truly seem to fly. Ye need no palace-stables, no saucy pampered grooms, To stretch your cracking purse-strings, and strut in liveried plumes; No heavy half-year’s bills, for oats, beans, straw, and hay. The forest yields them lodgment, and food, where’er they stray. And thus we find, in every clime, things beautiful and fair, Each fitted to fulfil its task of use and beauty there; And I remember thinking so, when, a little child, I read The history of the good Reindeer, and the Moss whereon they fed.

_Louisa A. Twamley._

* * * * *

Mother! dear mother! the feelings nurst As I hung at thy bosom, clung round thee first. ’Twas the earliest link in love’s warm chain-- ’Tis the only one that will long remain: And as year by year, and day by day, Some friend still trusted drops away, Mother! dear mother! oh! dost thou see How the shortened chain brings me nearer thee?

_Willis._

* * * * *

Bishop Mant thus describes the place where Mosses grow:--

On upland hill, in lowland vale, And where the frigid vapours sail, Mantling the Alpine mountain hoar, On granite-rock, or boggy moor, On peat-clad marsh, or sandy heath, On hillock’s grassy slope; beneath The hedge-road fence, and on the bank, Fringed with the plumed osier dank, Of streamlet, pool, or waterfall; On wave-washed stone, on plastered wall; On tree of forest, or of fruit, The bark-clad trunk, the heaving root; Or where the spring with oozing slime Slides trickling down the rifted lime; Or where the grav’ly pathway leads Through shady woods, o’er plashy meads:-- Exulting in the wintry cold, Their cups the mossy tribes unfold; Fringed, and beneath a coping hid Of filmy veil, and convex lid, On many a thread-like stalk, bespread With yellow, brown, or crimson red, In contrast to the leaves of green, A velvet carpet, where the queen Of fairies might in triumph lie And view the elvish revelry; Soft as the cygnet’s downy plume, Or produce of the silkworm’s loom, Survey them by the unaided eye, And, if the seeds within you lie Of love for natural beauty true, They’ll shoot enlivened at the view Of hair or feather-mantled stem, The waving stalk, the fringed gem, Enveloping its chaliced fruit; So fair, so perfect, so minute, That bursting forth, the seeds may seem A floating cloud of vapoury steam. Or by the microscopic glass Surveyed, you’ll see how far surpass The works of nature, in design, And texture delicately fine, And perfectness of every part, Each effort of mimetic art.

A mother’s love--how sweet the name! What is a mother’s love? --A noble, pure, and tender flame, Enkindled from above, To bless a heart of earthly mould; The warmest love that can grow cold; This is a mother’s love.

_Montgomery._

* * * * *

Dear mother, of the thousand strings which waken The sleeping harp within the human heart, The longest kept in tune, though oft forsaken, Is that in which the mother’s voice bears part; Her still small voice bids e’en the careless ear To turn with deep and pure delight to hear.

_Miss E. J. Eames._

DANDELION.... _The Rustic Oracle_.

The Dandelion is the most common of flowers. It is found in the four quarters of the globe, near the pole as beneath the equator, on the margin of rivers and streams as well as on sterile rocks. It serves the shepherd instead of a clock, while its feathery tufts are his barometer, predicting calm or storm. The globes formed by the seeds of the Dandelion are used for other purposes. If you are separated from the object of your love, pluck one of those feathery spheres, charge each of the little feathers with a tender thought; turn toward the spot where the loved one dwells; blow, and the aërial travellers will faithfully convey your secret message to his or her feet. If you wish to know if that dear one is thinking of you, blow again; and if a single aigrette is left upon the stalk, it is a proof that you are not forgotten.

As thinks The mariner of home, When doomed through many a dreary waste Of waters yet to roam,-- Thus doth my spirit turn to thee, My guiding star o’er life’s wild sea.

_Mrs. Embury._

* * * * *

Dandelion, with globe of down, The schoolboy’s clock in every town, Which the truant puffs amain, To conjure lost hours back again.

_Howitt._

PIMPERNEL.... _The Weather-glass_.

THE COUNTRY MAID AND THE PIMPERNEL FLOWER.

“I’ll go and peep at the Pimpernel, And see if she think the clouds look well; For if the sun shine, And ’tis like to be fine, I shall go to the fair, For my sweetheart is there: So, Pimpernel, what bode the clouds and the sky? If fair weather, no maiden so merry as I.”

Now the Pimpernel flower had folded up Her little gold star in her coral cup, And unto the maid Thus her warning said: “Though the sun smile down, There’s a gathering frown O’er the checkered blue of the clouded sky; So tarry at home, for a storm is nigh.”

The maid first looked sad and then looked cross, Gave her foot a fling, and her head a toss; “Say you so, indeed, You mean little weed? You’re shut up for spite, For the blue sky is bright, To more credulous people your warnings tell, I’ll away to the fair;--good day, Pimpernel.”

“Stay at home! quoth the flower?--In sooth, not I; I’ll don my straw hat with a silken tie; O’er my neck so fair I’ll a kerchief wear, White, chequered with pink, And then--let me think, I’ll consider my gown, for I’d fain look well:” So saying, she stepped o’er the Pimpernel.

Now the wise little flower, wrapped safe from harm, Sat fearlessly waiting the coming storm; Just peeping between Her snug cloak of green, Lay folded up tight, Her robe so bright; Though ’broidered with purple, and starred with gold, No eye might its bravery then behold.

The fair maiden straight donned her best array, And forth to the festival hied away; But scarce had she gone Ere the storm came on; And, ’mid thunder and rain, She cried oft and again, “Oh! would I had minded yon boding flower, And were safe at home from the pelting shower.”

Now, maidens, the tale that I tell would say, Don’t don fine clothes on a doubtful day, Nor ask advice, when, like many more, You had “made up your minds” some time before.

_Louisa A. Twamley._

POPPY.... _Consolation_.

The Red Poppy is the floral symbol of consolation. The White Poppy is supposed to express, “My bane, my antidote.” The juice extracted from these plants is employed to soothe the restless invalid to sleep, and to ease the pangs of disease. According to the mythology of the Grecians, the Poppy owed its origin to Ceres, who created it to assuage her grief, during her search after her daughter Proserpine, who was carried off by Pluto. The Poppy is extensively cultivated in Europe, for the purpose of making opium from it. Many species are cultivated in the garden. The double flowers possess surpassing beauty, whether we consider their delicate texture, elegance of shape, or variety of colouring. In the time of Gesner, the celebrated botanist of Switzerland, the village Damons and Chloes proved the sincerity of their lovers by placing in the hollow of the palm of the left-hand, a petal, or flower-leaf of the Poppy, which, on being struck by the other hand, was broken with a sharp sound, which denoted true attachment; but faithlessness, when it failed to snap.

* * * * *

The world has closed its eyes and fallen asleep; And GOD looks down from His eternal throne And shuts the eye that long was wont to weep, And makes the wretched feel they’re not alone.

_MacKellar._

PRIDE AND THE POPPIES.--THEIR GRANDEUR AND FALL.

“We little Red-caps are among the corn, Merrily dancing at early morn, We know that the farmer hates to see Our saucy red faces; but here are we!

“We pay no price for our summer coats, Like those slavish creatures, barley and oats; We don’t choose to be ground and eat, Like our heavy-head neighbour, Gaffer Wheat.

“Who dare thrash _us_, we should like to know! Grind us, and bag us, and use us so! Let meaner and shabbier things than we So stupidly bend to utility!”

So said little Red-cap, and all the rout Of the Poppy-clan set up a mighty shout; Mighty for them, but if _you_ had heard You had thought it the cry of a tiny bird.

So the Poppy-folk flaunted it over the field, In pride of grandeur they nodded and reeled; And shook out their jackets, till naught was seen, But a wide, wide shimmer of scarlet and green.

The Blue-bottle sat on her downy stalk, Quietly smiling at all their talk. The Marigold still spread her rays to the sun, And the purple Vetch climbed up to peep at the fun.

The whimsical Bugloss, vain, beautiful thing, Whose flowers, like the orient butterfly’s wing, Are deep, glowing azure, was eager to shed O’er her yet unoped buds a delicate red;

First crimson, then purple, then loveliest blue; E’en thrice doth she change her chameleon hue; And she pities the flowers that grow merrily by, Because in one dress they must bud, bloom, and die.

The homely Corn-cockle cared nothing, not she, For the arrogance, bluster, and poor vanity Of the proud Poppy-tribe, but she flourished and grew, Content with herself, and her plain purple hue.

The sun went down, and rose bright on the morrow, To some bringing joy, and to others e’en sorrow, But blithe was the rich rosy farmer that morn When he went with his reapers among the corn.

Forth went they betimes, a right merry band, The sickles were glancing in each strong hand, And the wealthy farmer came trotting along, On his stiff little pony, mid whistle and song.

He trotted along, and he cracked his joke, And chatted and laughed with the harvest-folk; For the weather was settled, barometers high, And heavy crops gladdened his practised eye.

“We’ll cut this barley to-day,” quoth he, As he tied his white pony under a tree, “Next to the upland wheat, and then the oats.” How the Poppies shook in their scarlet coats!

Ay, shook with laughter, not fear, for they Never dreamed they too should be swept away, And their laughter was spite, to think that all Their “useful” neighbours were doomed to fall.

They swelled and bustled with such an air, The corn-fields quite in commotion were, And the farmer cried, glancing across the grain, “How those rascally weeds have come up again!”

“Ha! ha!” laughed the Red-caps, “ha! ha! what a fuss Must the poor _weeds_ be in! how they’re envying _us_!” But their mirth was cut short by the sturdy strokes They speedily met from the harvest-folks.

And when low on the earth each stem was laid, And the round moon looked on the havoc made, A Blue-bottle propped herself half erect, And made a short-speech--to this effect.

“My dying kins-flowers, and fainting friends, The same dire fate alike attends Those who in scarlet or blue are dressed; Then how silly the pride that so late possessed

“Our friends the Red-caps! how low they lie, Who were lately so pert, and vain, and high! They sneered at us and our plain array; Are we now a whit more humbled than they?

“They scorned our neighbours:--the goodly corn Was the butt of their merriment eve and morn, They lived on its land, from its bounty fed, But a word of thanks they never have said.

“And which is the worthiest now, I pray? Have ye not learned enough to-day? Is not the corn sheafed up with care, And are not the Poppies left dying there?

“The corn will be carried and garnered up To gladden man’s heart both with loaf and cup; And some of the seed the land now yields Will be brought again to its native fields,

“And grow and ripen and wave next year As richly as this hath ripened here; And we poor weeds, though needed not, Perchance may spring on this very spot.

“But let us be thankful and humble too; Not proud and vain of a gaudy hue, Ever remembering, though meanly drest, That _usefulness_ is of all gifts the best.”

_Louisa A. Twamley._

* * * * *

Will you drink of this fountain, and sorrow forget? Has the past been so blest that you hesitate yet? Can love, when ’tis slighted, still cherish a token, Or hearts still forgive, that unkindness has broken?

_Percival._

* * * * *

From a Poppy I have taken Mortal’s balm and mortal’s bane; Juice that, creeping through the heart, Deadens every sense of smart; Doomed to heal or doomed to kill, Fraught with good or fraught with ill.

_Mrs. Robinson._

ACANTHUS.... _The Arts_.

The Acanthus blooms in greatest perfection by the great rivers of hot climates. Among the ancients, it was a favourite, and they adorned their furniture, vases, and costly dresses, with its elegant leaves. When any obstacle obstructs the growth of the Acanthus, it puts forth fresh force and grows with additional vigour. Thus genius is strengthened by the difficulties which it cannot overcome. Callimachus, an ancient architect, derived the idea of the Corinthian capital, from seeing the leaves of an Acanthus surrounding a basket which had been set upon the ground, and impeded the regular growth of the plant.

* * * * *

Tired at first sight with what the muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts, While from the bounded level of our mind Short views we take, nor see the length behind; But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise New distant scenes of endless science rise.

_Pope._

* * * * *

For though I must confess an artist can Contrive things better than another man, Yet when the task is done, he finds his pains Sought but to fill his belly with his brains. Is this the guerdon due to liberal arts, To admire the head and then to starve the parts? Timely prevention though discreetly used Before the fruits of knowledge were abused. When learning has incurred a fearful damp, To save our oil, ’tis good to quench the lamp.

_Lady Alimony._

* * * * *

She had read Her father’s well-filled library with profit, And could talk charmingly. Then she would sing, And play too, passably, and dance with spirit. She sketched from nature well, and studied flowers, Which was enough alone to love her for. Yet she was knowing in all needlework, And shone in dairy and in kitchen too, As in the parlour.

_James N. Barker._

* * * * *

Art became the shadow Of the dear star-light of thy haunting eyes! They called me vain, some mad--I heeded not, But still toiled on, hoped on, for it was surest, If not to win, to feel more worthy thee.

_Bulwer._

VALERIAN.... _An accommodating Disposition_.

The Valerian was called by some of the old English writers the Setewale. It is generally found growing by ruined walls or buildings, and from the facility with which it propagates in these situations, it is made the emblem of an accommodating disposition. The root of the Valerian is considered a valuable remedy for many of those ailments which spring from luxurious living. It exerts a peculiar influence on the nervous system, revives the spirits, and strengthens the sight. The Valerian is too large and scrambling a plant to hold a place in the parterre of choice flowers.

* * * * *

How much more happy is that sweet estate, That neither creeps too low nor soars too high; Which yields no matter for contempt or hate, Which others not disdain, nor yet envy, Which neither does nor takes an injury, But living to itself in sweet content, Is neither abject, nor yet insolent.

_1629. Herbert._

* * * * *

My country, sir, is not a single spot Of such a mould, or fixed to such a clime.

_Miller._

MARVEL OF PERU.... _Timidity_.

The Marvel is a native of Peru, and receives its name from the wonderful diversity of colours in flowers of the same root;

Changing from the splendid rose To the pale violet’s dejected hue.

_Akenside._

This plant retains its beauty for a great length of time, being frequently covered with blossoms from the beginning of July to the end of October. It is chosen as the emblem of timidity, because the flowers are too timid to expand during the day, and open and give out their fragrance at night.

* * * * *

Sure, ’twas his modesty. He might have thriven Much better possibly, had his ambition Been greater much. They ofttimes take more pains Who look for pins, than those who find out stars.

_John Fountain._

* * * * *

I pity bashful men, who feel the pain Of fancied scorn and undeserved disdain, And bear the marks upon a blushing face Of needless shame and self-imposed disgrace.

_Cowper._

* * * * *

“Call back your odours, lonely 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 her 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. Call it not wasted the scent we lend To the breeze when no step is nigh; Oh! thus for ever the earth should send Her grateful breath on high! And love us as emblems, night’s dewy flowers, Of hopes unto sorrows given, That spring through the gloom of the darkest hours, Looking alone to Heaven.

_Mrs. Hemans._

* * * * *

That modest grace subdued my soul, That chastity of look which seems to hang A veil of purest light o’er all her beauties, And by forbidding most inflames desire.

_Young._

* * * * *

He saw her charming, but he saw not half The charms her downcast modesty concealed.

_Thomson._

[Illustration: ROSE BUD, YELLOW LILY, LILAC

_I confess Your majestic beauty Has awakened my first emotions of love._]

STOCK.... _Lasting Beauty_.

The Stock has been made the emblem of lasting beauty; because, though it is less graceful than the rose, and less majestic than the lily, its splendour is more durable, and its fragrance of longer continuance. Few flowering plants have been so much and so rapidly improved by cultivation as the Stock. Within the last two centuries, its nature has been almost entirely changed by the florist; and it is now a shrub whose branches are covered with blossoms little inferior in dimensions to the rose. Stocks are produced of various colours, but the bright red or carmine must ever remain the favourite variety. The principal branches of this fragrant family are the Ten-week Stock, so named from flowering about ten weeks after it is sown; and the Brompton, which does not bloom till about twelve months after sowing, and was first cultivated in the neighbourhood of Brompton, England.

* * * * *

Without the smile from partial beauty won, Oh, what were man!--a world without a sun!

_Campbell._

* * * * *

Beauty has gone; but yet her mind is still As beautiful as ever; still the play Of light around her lips has every charm Of childhood in its freshness.

_Percival._

* * * * *

The lily may die on thy cheek, With freshness no longer adorning; The rose that envelopes its whiteness may seek To take back her mantle of morning; Yet still will Love’s tenderness beam from thine eye, And ask for that homage no heart can deny.

_Dawes._