FIELD FLOWERS. YE field flowers! the gardens eclipse you, 'tis true, ve waft me to summers of old, earth teemed around me with fairy delight, aisies and buttercups gladdened my sight, res of silver and gold. E'en now what affections the violet awakes; What loved little islands, twice seen in their lakes, What landscapes I read in the primrose's looks; Earth's cultureless buds! to my heart ye were dear Had scathed my existence's bloom; Once I welcome you more, in life's passionless stage, With the visions of youth to revisit my age, And I wish you to grow on my tomb. CAMPBELL. THE PURPOSE OF FLOWERS. BEAUTIFUL flowers, whose tender forms Say, were ye only born to fade; Or were your tints and odours given, Of this dull world some glimpse of heaven? W. MARTIN LA FARFALLA SULLA ROSA. FARFALLETTA dorata Sulla Rosa sedea, E superba dicea Per me la Rosa è nata, E spiegava le alette E le fresche cimette Tuoi di sorte pomposa; P BERTOLA. THE DIAL OF FLOWERS*. 'Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours, By the opening and the folding flowers, Thus had each moment its own rich hue, In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew, To such sweet signs might the time have flowed In a golden current on, Ere from the garden, man's first abode, So might the days have been brightly told— * This dial is said to have been formed by Linnæus. It marked the hours by the opening and closing, at regular intervals, of the flowers arranged in it. |