The Wild Flowers, Birds and Insects of the Months

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862 edition. Excerpt: ... as Shakspeare describes it, alluding to the action of light upon the flower, causing it to open and shut at regular periods of the day. The great bard also mentions it under another name, in one of the most beautiful of his lyrics: --'Hark! hark! the Lark at heaven's gate sings, And Phcobus 'gins to rise, His steeds to water at those springs On ehalieed flowers that lies, And winking Mart/buds begin To ope their golden eyes.' Marybuds--buds dedicated to the Virgin Mary--appears to have been a not uncommon term in the old Catholic times. One of the best and greatest meanings which we can derive from these floral teachers, is that of faith and humble dependence upon divine bounty and protection. We observe that--'All its allotted length of days The flower ripens in its place--Ripens, and fades, and falls, and with no toil, Fast rooted in the fruitful soil, ' to quote the poet of'Locksley Hall, ' with whom, however, we must not linger too long, or our readers will fancy we have got among his dreamy ' Lotus Eaters, ' where--'With half-dropt eyelids still, Beneath a heaven dark and holy, They watch the long bright river drawing slowly His waters fiom the purple hill, And hear the dewy echoes calling From cave to cave, through the thick-twined vine, And hear the emerald-coloured waters falling Through many a woven Acanthus-wreath divine.' We should like to place the graceful Acanthus leaf in our August wreath--for it is to be found, according to Dioscorioes, at this period of the year--only that we think it best now to confine ourselves to plants which are indigenous to this country, hoping at another time to have a gossip with our readers about those Which are of foreign origin, and are more espeFRAGRANT CLIMBERS. 1G5 dally alluded to by the ol