The goats wind slow their wonted way,1 THE CALENDAR OF FLORA.2 Rogers. FAIR rising from her icy couch, The snow-drop marks the Spring's approach, Then thickly strewn in woodland bowers, There spring the sorrel's veined flowers, (1) Way-this line, and that in the first stanza, "With hounds and horns the hunters rise," supply instances of what is called alliteration, or the frequent recurrence of the same initial letter. It is an artifice of composition which ought to be very judiciously employed to satisfy a cultivated taste-though its occasional introduction is pleasing. The poet Churchill has at once ingeniously ridiculed and exemplified it in the following line : "And apt alliteration's artful aid." (2) In the "Calendar of Flora," the flowers, by their appearance at different parts of the year, serve as a sort of register, or calendar, of the seasons. (3) Herald-synonymous with harbinger and messenger. All these words convey the idea of going before, but differ in the purpose. A herald is one who goes before to declare something. A harbinger is one who goes before to procure a harbour or lodging for some important personage. A messenger is one who goes before to take a message. (4) Arum maculatum-spotted arum, or cuckoo-pint. (5) Anemones-called also wind-flowers. The anemone nemorosa is here referred to. (6) Vegetable gold-an expression borrowed from Milton (Paradise Lost, iv. 218), and somewhat affectedly employed here to denote the golden colour of the cowslips. From calyx pale the freckled cowslips born, And, where the slowly trickling stream In the lone copse, or shadowy dale, Wild clustered knots of harebells grow, O'er vinca's3 matted leaves below. Hangs high her beauteous blossoms there; To later summer's fragrant breath Clematis' feathery garlands dance; The hollow foxglove nods beneath; While the tall mullein's yellow lance- And the weak galium5 weaves its myriad fairy flowers. Sheltering the coot's or wild duck's nest, And where the timid halcyon hides, The willow-herb, in crimson drest, Waves with arundo o'er the tides; And there the bright nymphæa loves to lave, Or spreads her golden orbs upon the dimpling wave. (1) Hottonia-the water violet. (2) Menyanthes-the buck-bean or bog-bean. (3) Vinca-periwinkle. (4) Bryonia-bryony. (5) Galium-the yellow bed-straw. (6) Halcyon-the king-fisher. (7) Nymphæa-the white water-lily; the "golden orbs," in the next line, belong to the yellow species. And thou, by pain and sorrow blest, Contrasting with the corn-flower blue, Bend in the rustling gale amid the tawny sheaves. From the first bud, whose venturous head Are all for health, for use, for pleasure given, And speak, in various ways, the bounteous hand of Heaven. Charlotte Smith. THE HOROLOGE2 OF FLORA. IN every copse and sheltered dell The green-robed children of the spring Mark where transparent waters glide, But, conscious of the earliest beam, The virgin whiteness of her breast, (1) Papaver-poppy. There seems to be an error here; it is the white poppy, papaver somniferum, which produces opium-the "opiate dew" of the text. (2) Horologe-(from Lat. horologium, which is from pa, an hour, and Xéyew,. to tell), that which tells the hour, a clock, a watch, &c. In the "Horologe of Flora," or, as it is sometimes called, "the dial of flowers," certain flowers, which open or shut at regular intervals, fancifully serve the purpose of a time-piece. Till the bright day-star to the west See hieracium's1 various tribe Broad o'er its imbricated cup, Pale as a pensive cloistered nun, Among the loose and arid sands, And those small bells so lightly rayed, young Aurora's rosy hue, Are to the noontide sun displayed, But shut their plaits against the dew. (1) Hieracium-hawkweed. (2) Plumy-feathery, from the Latin pluma, a feather. (3) Radiate from the Latin radius, the spoke of a wheel, or a line or ray of light emitted from a luminous body. As a botanical term, the adjective "radiate " signifies having florets set round a disk in the form of a star. (4) Imbricated-from the Latin imbrex, a gutter-tile for carrying off rain-cut or indented like a gutter-tile. (5) Cloistered-shut up in a cloister; from the Latin claustrum, an enclosed place. (6) Arenaria-from the Latin arena, sand, which is from arere, to be drysandwort. (7) Calyx-another form of the Latin calix, a cup-the outer covering of a flower. (8) Plaits-folds; from the Latin plicare, to fold, through the French plier. In old English the word was plite. Chaucer writes:-"to sewe (i. e. to sew) and plite." On upland slopes the shepherds mark And thou! "Wee crimson-tipped flower," When night-drops bathe the turfy ground; The garish noontide's blazing light. A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. THE lists are oped, the spacious area cleared, Hushed is the din of tongues-on gallant steeds, And lowly bending to the lists advance; The crowd's loud shout their prize, and ladies' lovely glance. (1) Chicorium-chicory or succory. (2) The daisy. In allusion to the poem by Burns, beginning with the above words. (See p. 76.) (3) Silene noctiflora-the night-flowering catch-fly. (4) Garish-from old English gaure, or gare, to stare, used thus by Chaucer"Now gaureth all the people on her." Hence the adjective may mean, staringly, fine, gay, showy, oppressively bright. (5) Lists, from Anglo-Saxon lis-an, to collect together. List is the Anglicised past participle, and means primarily that which is collected together, i. e. a collection, as in the expression "a list of names;" in a secondary sense, and in the plural number, it denotes the enclosure round which the company collected sit to behold a public spectacle, and also the barriers of rope, cloth, or board, which serve as the boundary. (6) Lated-for belated-arriving too late. |