· he earliest harbingers of spring, that “com e before the swallow dares, are some of the dwell...
TRANSCRIPT
J
I sing of brooks an d blossoms,birds an d bowers,Of Apri l,May ,ofjam an dju ly fl owers.I sing of tzmes trans-shiftmg an d I wrzte
How rosesfi rst came red an d h ires wbz te .
H E R R ICK.
L IST OF IL L USTRATIONS
The Marchioness of LondonderryThe golden-chanced crocusDaffodi lsDouble Daffodi lsPoets’ NarcissusThe
“Melancholy HyacinthTrumpet Daffodi lScar let-and-b lack TulipsTrue c lientsof the sunneWhite Tu lipsPa'rma VioletsMarie Louise VioletsSweet White VioletsThe Hero of the VioletNymphaeaOdorataLily of the Val leyLilium HarrisiiCal la L ilyLi lium AuratumV ictoria RegiaLotus PondWhere the lotus idly floats
,v1 1
Facin g pag e 4
8
1 0
1 2
1 4
1 8
22
Pekinensis Rubrum Plen um
Solei l d’Or
York and Lancaster R os eLa France RosesBride RosesMoss RosesSqupert
Crimson Rambler RosesEcken holm
Chinese Weeping LilacArchduke JohnPresident GrevyL e MarkeRothomayenS isA lba GrandifloraMaud DeanPhi ladelphiaWill iamH LincolnGlory of the PacificKiotoIvory and Maud Dean
viii
DWEL L ERS
HE earl iest harbingers of spri ng,that “ come before the swallowdares, are some of the dwel l
ers of the dust that have lai n thesul len wi nter through, wait ing forthe warmi ng sun to draw them abovethe ground . First to appear i s thesn owdrop, Fair maid of February,as it i s somet imes named, beari ngwith drooping head the cruel fatewhich calls i t unlucky.
Then come the crocuses,timid l i ttlecreatures that hug close to MotherEarth for the sake of the warmth herbroad bosom affords . Purple andgold,pure white,or fai ntly streakedwith lavender, they do not seem toneed the sheltering protection of
green leaves that add so much tothe beauty and effectiveness of otherand statel ier blooms.In the almanac of flowers written
i n the garden bed the crocus plays amodest part. But who has not felta thri l l of del ight when,on lookingfrom the window some rude Marchday,a golden spear was d iscoveredthrust ing i tself courageously throughthe snow that y et l i ngered there ?In the second week of March
y es,even before that look for thefirst bees . Not the blundering bumblebees whose loud hum speaks ofsummer’s warmth, but the slenderhoneybees,alert and trim, that havealready visi ted the bog for the pol lenfrom the homely skunk-cabbage,andnow come to the crocus to rob it ofi ts drops of nectar.In almost every garden of N ew Eng
land you will find that i n some sunny
i n the year. For January and Pebruary he gives some unfami l iar namesl i ke the Mez erion Tree,which thenblossoms, Crocus Vernus, both theyel low and the grey, Prim-Roses,Anemones, the early Tu lippa, Hiacy n thus Oriental is,Chamairis, Frettelaria.
In my own garden, I would partwith almost any flower that makes i tshome there before I would give upmy crocuses . They are only of twoshades, yel low and white,for purplealways seems to me to breathe of sadness,and to my mind these first flowers should speak only of joy, joythat the long cold winter i s past,thatspring is at hand, that before long Ishall welcome to the garden the robi n,whose bright,clear whi stle will takeme to the window on a run . Therehe is,on the old oak,a tree so venerable and so great that i t seems a posi
6
tive disrespect“
to call 'it merely.
the
oak, but which demands the descriptive term as wel l,to sign ify that i t i sthe dean of all the trees hereabout,andthe on e first sought by the birds .Before the last crocus has burned
i ts bri ghtness away I shal l have heardthe song of the sparrows,the organnotes ofthe white-throat,and the fieldsparrow with its long-drawn tones ofsweet sadness,and the song-sparrowwith i ts happier tri l ls,which i t throwsupon t he ai r almost before the sunri ses,and y et has voice to spare fori ts even i ng hymn .
Cel i a Thaxter has written charmin gly oi the song-sparrow in someverses whi ch run :
In th i s sweet,tranqu i l afternoon of spring,While the low sun declines in the clear west,
I sit and hear the b lithe song-sparrow singH is strain of rapture not to b e suppressed,
P ondering l ife’s prob lem strange,while death drawsnear,
I l isten to his daunt less song of cheer .
Thou litt le bird,“
how cans t thou thus rejoice,As if the world had known nor sin nor curse ?
God never meant to mock us with that voice 1That i s the key -note of the universe,
That song of perfect trust,of perfect cheer.Courageous,constant,free of doubt or fear .
My litt le helper,ah,my comrade sweet,My old companion in that far-ofi time
When on life’s threshold Chi ldhood’ s winged feetDan ced in the sunri se ! Joy was at its prime
When all my heart responded to thy song.Unconscious of earth’ s discords harsh and strong .
And slowly all my soul with comfort fil ls,And the old hope revives an d courage g rows !
Up the deserted shore a fresh tide thrills,And like a dream the dark mood melts and goes.
And with thy joy again wi ll I rejoice !God never meant to mock us with that voice
The warm sun brings warm hues.
When daffodils beg in to peerWith heigh,the doxy over the dale,Why then comes in the sweet 0 ’ the year,”
and with it banks of yel low blooms .Whilethemore stately garden flowers
have been storied and sung by poets ofgreat and lesser degree, the humblefirstl i ngs of the year have not been without thei r admi rers . The greatest poet
8
of all,Shakespeare,born i n April himself,has celebrated the flowers of hismonth by loving and frequent reference. The i ri s,the mary-buds, anddafiodils are mentioned over and overagain, his love of flowers, l ike hi sknowledge of them,bei ng remarkable.
The daffodil,a species of which growswild i n England,has been the subjectof some of the prettiest poems everwri tten . It was Herrick who wrote,
Fai r daffodi ls,we weep to seeYou haste away so soon .
”
Wordswort h’
s even more charmingverses on the same flowers begin
l w andered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o’
er vales and hi lls,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host of golden daffodils,Beside the lake,beneath the trees,F lu tt
’rin g and dancing in the breez e .
A l l through England this prettyposy i s woven about with quaint conceits . It is somet imes cal led lent- l i ly,
9
and dedicated to Our Lady. I nGermany it i s called Joseph
’
s staff,and i t is on e of the many flowers wh ich,it i s told,budded i n Joseph
’
s hand.
That all these early flowers are
accredited with bri nging mi sfortunewith them is shown over and overagain . I n some parts of Eng land noyoung maid would pluck a daffodi l !i t would be court ing death . Howpretti ly Herrick tells it :
When a daffodi l I seeHanging down her head towards me,Guess I may what I must beFirst,I shall decl ine my headSecondly,I shall b e deadLastly,safely buried .
!
If on ewishes for posi t ive distraction,i t i s to be found in the florist
’
s catalogn es,under the head Daffodi ls .They run riot through hundreds offasci nati ng ti tles the Circe,the MaryAnderson, why did they not call on evariety the PerditaP - the Phoen ix,
I O
the sulphur hoop-petti coat,and a scoreof equally suggestive names . Long agoI fell a v ictim to the spel l which iswoven by the dwe l lers of the dust,and al l winter long with in doors theymake glad spots of fragrance andbeauty,and require the least attentionof any blooming th ing I know .
I t i s my fancy to render them asethereal as possible . Out of doorsthey may be ch i ldren of the dust,buti n the house they are creatures of l ightand air, and — water ! Not a bulbwi ll I dabble with that wi l l not consent to grow for me i n water,andwhen you once make up your mind toth i s i dea it i s aston ish i ng how manyyou can bend to your wi ll . FromNovember ti l l Apri l, that is fromsnow-fly to grass-cut, as my Dutchgardener expresses i t,I expect a success ion of bloom,and by beginn ingi n season I always have i t.
I I
The first to come are the Narcissi,theN . tazetta bei ng my favourite . I seeksome Chinese store to buy these,andset the large,heavy bulbs amid brighthued stones that I have been for yearscollecti ng from the seashore . Thesebulbs are always placed in a bowl ofCh inese porcelai n,gay in colour andinimitable i n design,for I have a fancythat the bulbs bloom more freely ifplaced in a vessel of thei r own nationality l Who knows but they whispertogether of when theywere i n thei r ownhomes,and the Narciss i long for thepresence of the sweet singi ng insects,so n umerou s in thei r own flowery land?After the Chinese l i l ies have bloomed
then come the Paper-white Narcissus,sweet and free-bloomers,fi l l i ng thehouse with the ir perfume,so that whenyou enter from out of doors you feelas if spring were within,no matterwhat the temperature without.
1 2
Then come the hyacinths, everycolour,si ngle and double,each colourglowing i n a glass as near to its ownshade as I can g et i t . My favouritesare the rose-pink and yel low ones,thelatter having a tendency to bloom ina bal l,i nstead of lengthening into atal l stem,as on e would expect .These tol l me along till I can see the
first flowers i n the garden,and then Ihurry the old bulbs i nto good,rich soi l,for as they have given to me of thei rbest,I return thanks in the way mostgrateful to them .
But,after al l, there i s n oth i ng tocompare with the flowers growing outof doors . L et us take up once morethe process ion of the spring.
The hyaci nth,quite i n contrast tothe other flowers of the spring,seemsoppressed with a burden of sadness,and bears on its frai l petals the notesof grief, record ing the sorrow of
1 3
Apollo for the death of his favourite,Hyacinthus .
The melancholy hyacinth,that weepsA ll night and never l ifts an ey e all day,
as on e poet phrases i t,hangs his headoverburdened with sweetness . Likethe crocus,the hyacinth rejoices in thecolour purple,begi nn ing at a shade so
pale that i t seems more l i ke the ti ntof far—away h il ls than a flower near athand,an d coming down through anhundred tones to that deep,dark ti ntthat we associate with the words“ royal purple .
The wild hyaci nth,the grape hyacin th,with its flowers which neverseem to fully expan d,range throughmany lovely shades of that most rareof all colours i n nature,blue.
Sir John Lubbock, the eminentEng l ish natural i st,has an explanationfor th is rarity,and says :If blue i s the favouri te colour of
1 -4
bees,and if bees have so much to dowith the origi n of flowers,how is itthat there are so few blue ones ? I
bel ieve the explanation to be that allblue flowers have descended fromancestors i n which the flowers weregreen,or,to speak more precisely,i nwh i ch the leaves surrounding the
stamens an d pist i l were green,andthat they have passed through stagesof wh ite and yel low, and general lyred,before becoming blue.
”
One cannot bear to th i nk that oursweet,native wild hyaci nth ever mas
queraded i n a gown of red or yel low,for though it i s far paler i n colourthan the Siberi an sci lla,when it isseen g rowi ng in a mass i ts effect canhardly be improved upon . Baby
’
sBreath and Lady
’s Tresses are two ofthe fanc iful local names bestowed
on these charm i ng plants in N ew“
Eng land .
1 5
The jonqui l with its golden ey e is amodest flower. The narci ssus,i ts garden mate,has had so much legendarylore hung from its snowy star that i tsvery name suggests a fairy tale. Canyou not see the young Narcissus inthe wood, tall, slender- Iimbed, andgraceful, armed with h is huntingspear ? No wonder he tries to forgeti n the pleasures of the chase the im
portu n ities of Echo,a charming nymph’
t i s true,but whose ceaseless i terat ionserves only to annoy him . Comingupon a li ttle brook,he casts himselfbesi de i t and bends forward to drink .
He starts back, for,as he th inks,alovely nymph of the pool rises to meeth im . Admiri ng the wealth of goldencurls,the blue eye and the rosy cheek,he sm i les at her. She smi les in answer !he thrusts h is hands i n the cool waterto meet her hands,but alas ! she i sever beyond his reach,and the. poor
1 6
youth languishes and dies, neverdreaming that the unattainable i s buthis own image. His compan ions findh is body by the pool and go sadlythrough the wood to gather fagots forhis fu neral pyre. When they camefor the body it was gone,but growingwhere i t lay was a plant wi th starryblossoms and a golden ey e. Theyname i t Narci ssus i n memory of the i rfriend,and to th is day we call it bythe same name.
There i s a quaint old poem calledThe Cherry and the Slae, wri ttenin 1 597. In it the poet Montgomery tel ls h i s opi n ion of poorNarcissus :
The painted pawn with Argus eyesCan on his May-cock cal l !The turtle wails on withered trees,And Echo answers all,Repeat ing,with greet ing,How fair N arcissus fell,By ly ing and SpyingHis shadow in the wel l .
I 7
Golden daffodi ls were chosen bythe goddesses forwreaths and chaplets and to decorate thei r altars. We
know and love them in old- fash ionedgardens,box-bordered and sweet withl i lac and lavender,where the tall Iarkspur and hollyhock stand up l ike sentinels,and where the thrushes s ing atdusk . The bee crawls i nto the deeptube and comes out covered withgolden dust,which he neatly scrapesoff and crowds into h is two baskets,and carries away to the h ive.
By the Sweet Waters of the Bosf
phorus, centuries ago, the Persianlover sought a flower with scarletpetals and a heart of gold. We cal li t the tul i p. To him i t was the em
blem of love,and with this flower inhis hand no words were needed whenhe sought h is lady. Though in Persia,on the shores of the blue Mediterran ean, and in parts of A sia, th is
1 8
a handful of strange roots which thetravel lers said bore wonderful flowers,richer and more varied i n colour thanany that they knew .
These treasures were planted in thequaint Dutch gardens by the Vrouwherself,and were watched and tendedwith infin i te care. I t was not t i l l1 634 that what the world knows asthe tul i p mania reached i ts he ight,and thousands of florin s were notdeemed too high a price to pay for achoice specimen . The Dutch wereproud of thei r prowess on the sea,
and named many of the lovely flowersafter the i r famous admirals, as thehighest honour to be conferred .
There were at on e t ime i n al l Holland but two bulbs of a certai n varietycalled S emper A ug u stu s . O n e wastreasured at The Hague,the otherat Amsterdam . Doctors, merchantprinces,savants vied with each other
no
as to who should possess them,andan i ncredible sum of gold,with horsesand carriages added,was necessary totempt the owner to part with on e . I tseems certain that i t was love ratherthan a mere desire for barter whichcaused the giving up of houses andlands,cattle,and even clothes to gainpossession of a pot of tul i ps .Though for a century these flowers
had been highly cons idered in Holland,there were three years when no priceseemed too extravagant . Some peculiar combination of soi l and ai r seemsto dwel l i n that land wrested from thesea,and to—day,as two hundred yearsago, the choicest and most bri ll iantspecimens are grown there. The tul ipbeds near Haarlem are among the
wonders of that quai nt town . On e
may see thei r bri l l i ant colours milesaway,and as they bend and sway inthe breeze they look l i ke webs of
2 1
splend id si lk . It i s possible to wander for days through these flowergardens and enjoy thei r beauty.
But Holland is not alone i n her lovefor thi s flower, nor i n the legendswhich gather about it. By on e ofthose curious anomal ies the tul i phas had various unpleasant qual itiesfastened upon it . It i s the symbolof i nconstancy . The poets,too,useher i ll, and cal l her flau n tin g
” andbold, compari ng her disadvan ta
geously with other flowers .In “
The Speech of Flowers, byThomas Fuller,written about 1640,he causes the rose to complai n aboutthe favour i nto which the tul i p hascome.
There i s lately [says the rose! aflower shal I call i t so ? i n courtesie I w i l l tearme i t 5 0, though itdeserve not the appel lation,a Toolip,which hath engrafted the love and
2 9.
affections of most people unto i t ! andwhat i s th is Toolip ? An i l l favourwrapt up i n pleasant colours ! as forthe u se thereof i n Physi c no Phy sitianhath honoured it y et with the menti on,nor with a Greek or Lati n name.
Dryden had a few words of praisefor her ! tel l i ng of a timi d lass,
Some fair tul ip by a storm oppressed,Shrinks up,and folds its si lken arms to res t .
If we wish, however, to see the
spot where the tul i p i s best loved,where she has no evi l qual i ty attachedto her bright bel ls,we must go toDevonshi re,on e of the garden spotsof England,a land of brightness andbloom,where the country folk sti l ll isten in the early spring for the
laverock singi ng on the rosebush,andwhere clotted cream and strawberries,with a cutt ing from a brown loaf,seem a feast beyond all others . In
23
thi s green and fert i le Devon l ived awidow who owned a rose- coveredcottage and loved all her flowersdearly, for she had no chi ldren . I nher garden plot she grew,year afteryear,tul i ps, great golden ones,palepink,and scarlet ones l ike the heartof a glowing coal . Every day in earlyspring she watched and tended them,covering the young plants with warmleaves and straw when the n ightswere frosty . When the hawthornjust began to show its buds her tuli pswere swinging the i r bel ls,and passersby on a clear night heard the softestmusic comi ng from the garden bed.
They smiled as they heard it,for theyknew what it was . The pixies hadcome out of the wood and were rocki ng thei r l i ttle brown babies to sleepi n the tul i p cups and singing softly asthey rocked .
As long as the widow lived her
7-4
story the good wife i n Devon wi ll tel lyou when you admire her tu li ps wav
i ng i n the scented breeze.
Joseph Hall,Bishop of Exeter,sturdyflower- lover that he was as wel l assaver of souls,l ived about seventy-fiveyears,from 1 574 to 1656,and tendedhis flowers i n the shaded garden ofhis palace,and wrote about them too .
Of tul ips he says :These Flowers are true Clients of
the Sunne ! how observant they are
of h is motion and i nfluence . At eventhey shut up,as mourn ing for h i s departure,without whom they nei thercan nor would flouri sh i n the morni ng ! they welcome hi s ri s i ng withacheerful ! open n esse,and at noone arefully display
’
d i n a free acknowledgment of h is bounty .
Your true lover of flowers caresnot a whit whether the blosson thatexcites h is fancy is a spoi led darl i ng
2 6
of the garden or a wi ldl i ng of thefields. In truth he almost prefers thelatter as being more directly a gift ofNature, a somethi ng that has comewithout h is vol it ion,and not throughhi s agency. He knows every blossomwhich grows with in a mi le of h isdoor,and not a daffodi l or a cowsl ip canwi ther and fall w i thout h is missing it .Part icularly true i s th i s of the earlyblossoms which come before the wholeearth has put on her mantle of spring .
The impulse to pluck a flower i sset i n almost every breast, if not forone’s own adornment,then to deck aloved on e. From such impu lses sprangthe u se of flowers i n various festivals .In northern Europe,i n those early
times wh ich are so far back that i t“
i shard for us to apprec iate the i r crudeness, long before the Romans hadswept up from the south,or Christianideas had crept in the i r wake,the rude
27
barbarians held the ir ostra,or springfestival .So wedded to th is festival had the
people become,that even after Chri stian ity came to be a power the oldceremonies were observed, and the
festival of the spri ng was mouldedto conform to the n ew truths,and wehave our Easter,the most sacred andmost hopeful festival of the Christi anyear.The ceremony of dress ing well s has
come down from the time of theDruids .
A pretty survival of this festival hasfor many years been observed at Tiss i ngton,i n England,where the wel ls aredressed on Ascens ion Day . Wreaths,and flowers and leaves arranged i nfanc iful devices,and i nterwoven withsymbols and texts,are lai d on the openings of the wel ls,and are allowed toremain there through all the day . In
2 8
a poem cal led The Fleece the ritepretti ly described :
With light fantast ic toe,the nymphsThither assembled,th ither every swainAnd o’er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers,Pale li lies,roses,V iolets and p inks,Mix
’
d with the greens of bouret,mint and thymeAnd trefoi l,sprinkled with thei r sportive arms,Such custom holds along th' i rriguous vales,From Wreken
’
s brow to rocky Dolvory n ,Sabrina’s early haunt .
A peculi ar reverence was attachedto the garlands woven for fest ival occasions,and the Romans,part i cularly,considered it a grave breach of decorumto wear such garlands i n publ ic . In
deed, such i ndecorous u se of thesesacred garlands was puni shed,and onon e occasion Lucius Fu lviu s,a banker,havi ng been convicted at the time ofthe Second Pun ic War of looking fromhis balcony with a Chaplet of roses onh is head,was thrown into prison,underorders from the Senate,and kept theresixteen years,unti l the close of the war .
2 9
A further i nstance of extreme severitywas i n the case of P . Mu natiu s,whowas condemned by the Triumvirate tobe put in chains for having robbed thestatue of Marsyas of its garlands,andcrowning himself with them .
In the l i terature of the past are
countless allu sions to the estimation i nwhich such garlands are held,and itmay be remembered that Montesquieuremarked that it was with two or threehundred crowns of oak-leaves thatRome conquered the world .
To—day we show honour by throwi ng garlands to those that charm us onthe mimic stage,and there are manyl i nks,if we would but search themout, between the symbol i sm of thepast and our usages of to-day.
In some parts of England wreaths oftul i ps have been used ti l l recent days togarland wells on Holy Thursday. I nthe north of France the cherry boughs
30
beari ng the first ri pe frui t are lai d acrossthemouth of the wel l to i nsure for thatseason a bountiful supply of frui t. The
ascribi ng of qual i t ies of good or evi lto various plants and trees goes backas far as there are any records . The
South Sea Islanders u se flowers as apart of every-day life, for ceremon ies,for adornment,for worship . Theyaffirm that the scent of a flower i s i tsspirit,and i n order that thei r dead maybe sustained by the fragrance they coverthe grave with the sweetest flowers .The origin of the names of plants
presents a curious branch of the studyof hort i culture . Many are wrappedin obscurity,but tul ip is from a Persian word,mean i ng turban,and havingreference to the shape of the flower.The pretty narci ssus i s i n memory ofa fool i sh youth,and daffodi l seems tohave been a homely name given inaffection to a home flower.
3 1
These charmin g dwel lers of thedust
”
become friends of long standi ng . O n e l ittle root nurtured andtended may l ive as long as you do,appeari ng anew each spring withadded numbers to glorify the gardenspot So sturdy is i t that even n eg
lect does not break its heart,n or causei t to lose hope,though i ts nuggets ofgold may not be so numerous . Courage i s a qual ity that always i nspiresadmiration , and i n th is case i t i scoupled with beauty an d soli d worth.
Shel ley, that poet so susceptible toall the i n fluences of nature,took theflowers at the i r true worth when hewrote :
The p ied W ind flowers and the tu l ip tal lAnd narciss i,the fairest among them all,Who gaz e on their eyes in the stream ’ s recessT i l l they die at their own dear lovel iness .”
32
IOL ETS occupy a conspi cuousplace i n Greek mythology.
We are told that lo was beloved of Jupiter,who,on account ofJuno’ s jealousy,changed her i nto aheifer. Such common food as grasswas far too gross to serve as nourishment for the sweetheart of on e of thegods ! therefore,as someth ing wonderfully del i c ious,he created the violet,that lo might feed upon i ts fragrantpetals . So at least we read in the oldchron icles,which tel l us far differentand much prettier tales than can begathered from the pages labori ouslyput together by scientists,who mustcram a fact i n every l i ne.
35
Whatever connection lo may havehad with th is sweet flower,i t i s truethat its Greek name i s Ion,and that,as the Athenians trace thei r origi n tolon ia,they adopted i t as thei r nationalemblem,and were much addicted toweari ng violet chaplets . Bes ides bei ngnoted for its beauty and fragrance,they considered the flower endowedwith power to ward off drunkenness,a frequent vice among these people.
That its efficacy was on occasion notsuffic iently potent was shown in thecase of A lc ibiades,when he went tothe house of Agathon,crowned withviolets and ivy,and bawled aloud i nthe courtyard .
The weavi ng of chaplets was aregular profess ion, and the mostcelebrated Chaplet-maker of antiquitywas a woman named Glycera,whofrequently challenged Pausias, the
pai nter,to surpass her i n the weaving
36
i ts praises . V irgi l, to describe thedesolation of Nature when mourningthe death of Daphnis, says that al lthe violets have peri shed,and i n the i rplace has sprung the sour, thornythi stle .
Mohammed had time to give to thecult ivation and study of flowers,andthe violet was on e of h is favourites .“ Flower of humil i ty he called i t,andamong his followers i n the East it i ssti l l regarded as possess ing on thisaccount a pecul iar sancti ty. As myrel igion, quoth the Prophet, i s aboveall others,so i s the excel lence of theodour of v iolets above all other odours .I t i s as warmth i n winter and coolnessi n summer.A thousand lovers have compared
thei r lady- loves to this flower,whichcombines all the graces for which aflower should be extolled — beauty,sweetness,modesty. Even the Span
38
iard,whose mistress is renowned forthe midnight blackness of her eyes andhair,apprec iates the lovel i ness of th isdarl ing of the gods,and extols itsmeri ts and worthiness.Gonzaga wrote thus pretti ly about
it a century ago and more
Oh ! the F lorence rose i s fresh and faire,And rich the young carnations blowe
Wreathing in Beauty ’s ebon n e haire,Or sighing on her breast of snow .
But on lie Violette shal twineThine ebon n e tresses,L ady e mine.
Perfume i s the soul of a flower,an dsuch blossoms as have i t i n abundanceare those most dearly loved,be thei rhue bright or dull,the i r s i ze large orsmall, thei r shape graceful or otherwise. There i s a s i ngle flower whichescapes thi s ban,and i s regarded withaffection even though scentless. Thisis the pansy,i n al l i ts varieties,firstcous in to the violet,and named botan ically Viola tricolor. The sweet
39
violet wi ll have no rival among flowersif we merely seek for a del i cate fragranee,but her sister,the heartsease,who is desti tute of all sweetness,farsurpasses her i n rich dresses .And surpasses not only i n rich dress,
on e would add to whom the pansy i sthe flower of al l others that rejo i ces i nan ind ividual i ty of its own,which hasan express ion,so to speak,i n i ts prettyface . Pluck if you will a handful ofpansies,golden-eyed,purple-hued,pied,and striped,and then amuse yourselfby seeking to discover if any two ofthem are quite al ike .
You will find that there i s as muchdifference between them as there i sbetween human bei ngs,and that someare shy,while others look you in theface with a challenge and defy you totel l just where the d ifference l ies .I t was this very characteristi c of the
pansy or heartease, i ts i ndividual ity,40
which endeared i t to those old gardenlovers who were as y et undi sturbedby the doubl i ng and trebl ing,and otherman ifestations of man ’s handiwork,which have come with advanci ngyears .The Greeks,to whom the i dea of
pure sylvan beauty was a meadow,speak of violets growing there. Sodoes the great Mi lton,but Shakespeareknew better where to find the firstl i ngs of the spring :
“ I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,Where ox lips and the nodd ing violet grows
He has Perd i ta cal l the vi olet dim,Milton call s i t glowing,
”each i n his
heart i ntent on a different point ofview, for Perd ita th i nks of her h idden love and compares i t to thi s shyblossom ! Milton l ikens i t to an em
blem of tri umphant love,and so callsi t glowing . With the joy of love i nh i s heart,Shakespeare elsewhere says,
4 1
it is sweeter than the l ids of Juno’
seyes.Extending as far back as the days
of the Roman Empire, the city'
ofToulouse had a reputation for l iterature ! i t was the centre of Proven galsong, and as late as the times ofCharles IV . there were sti l l troubadours, those wandering minstrel swho went from bower to hall,s ingi ngsongs often improvised and general lyoriginal . The i r members had greatlydecreased, however, and those whowere left formed themse lves into asociety which met i n the garden of
the Augusti ne monks,where they reci ted the i r ballads and songs . To fanthe dying embers of song once morei nto a flame,a pri ze was offered tothese Provencal troubadours of agolden violet for the best poem produced by on e of them . A greatmulti tude assembled to hear these
42
i n the ai r i s the violet,spec ial ly thedouble white violet, which comestwice a year, about the middle ofApri l and about Bartholomew- ti de.
The si lver- tongued Herrick in on eof his charming poems tel ls how theviolet became blue. He pictures theflowers as young girls lovely and
sweet, so sweet,i n fact,as to arousethe jealousy of Venus She had ad ispute with Cupid as to the superiority of her charms over those of hermore youthful rivals,and Cupid,everready to stir up trouble, decided infavour of the girls. This so incensedVenus that she flew i nto a pass ionand beat the poor girls ti ll they werequite blue !Rene Rapin,the Jesui t,a volumi
nous writer on gardens,mingles together descriptions of flowers and allkinds of graceful tales ! for instance,that the violet i s Ian this,who lurked
44
in valleys to shun the love of Apolloand stai ned her face purple to defendherself. The rose i s Rhodanthe,proudof her beauty,but changed into a treeby Apol lo,whilst the populace whohad adored her are convert ed intothorns and her ch ief lovers into snai lsand butterfl ies.Besides bei ng the emblem of humi l
ity the violet i s held to sign ify love o ftruth . Poor Ophel i a says to theQueen :I would give you some violets,buttheywithered all when my father died .
”
A Dutch travel ler,whovi si ted England in 1 560,has much to say i n hisletters about Engl i sh comfort andluxury. The flowers please him
g reatly,and he notes the floors bei ngstrewn with sweet herbs,which givegreat refreshment . A lso thei r nosegays finely i ntermingled with sundrysorts of fragraun te floures, i n theirbed chambers and privi rooms with
45
comfortable smel l cheered me up andenti rely del ighted al l my senses .Not only for thei r sweetness were
violets grown,but for uti l ity as wel l,and a salad of floures of violetteswith onions and lettuce was considered a very choice dainty. Theyare i ncluded with fennel and savoryas i ngredients for flavourin g broths,also to garn ish d ishes. In an oldrecei pt—book we find directions for apudding called mon amy, and thecook is di rected to “
plan t i t withflowers of violettes and serve i tforth .
In another ancient cook-book are
directions for compound ing a dishcalled vyolette.
”It must have been
a strange mixture to partake of, foryou select flowry s of vyolet,boylehem,p resse hem,bray hem smaladd sweet mi lk, floure of rys, sugar,or honey,and colour with violets.
Old Parki nson,the herbalist,writi ngi n 1 656 about the flowers and simplesgrow i ng i n Old London,says that bythe Thames
’
side,near to Lambeth,“ grew the water violets more plen tifully than i n any other spot . Toth ink of these violets,and then to callto mi nd the Lambeth of to—day,thehome of smoky pot-works an d dullgloomy bui ld i ngs,where never evena blade of grass can find courage toraise i ts head ! The Thames to-daywould not recogni se the Thames of1656, with its wherri
'
es rowed bywatermen,i ts gay barges pai nted andgi lded and fi l led with parties bent on
pleasure, or perhaps goi ng down . toLambeth to gather water violets .Pl i ny,who had a terrace of v iolets
about -hi s v i lla that he might enjoytheir-
sweetness,traces to the East theorig in
'
of perfumery. To the luxuryof fresh flowers
‘
was added the
sprinkl i ng of the guests wi th essencesand perfumes at those feasts whereeach host vied with his neighbour toprocure n ew sensations . As yearspassed,the love for scents of variouski nds increased and spread to differentcountries . Doughty kn ights werepleased to have thei r doublets madeof scented Spanish leather,while bitsof i t were sold to perfume femininebelongi ngs.Queen El i zabeth was very fond of
all strong essences and fragrant waters .The Medici s brought from Italy intoFrance cosmeti cs and perfumes,someof the latter said to conceal deadlypoisons and used as a means for tak ingoff those of whom they were anxiousto be rid,so that such innocent- lookingobjects as a pai r of scented gloves ora fragrant nosegay might conceal adeath-deal i ng foe.
From the earl iest times violets were
48
also . The warmth of the hand causedthem to exude a del icate fragrance .
The violets so used were not the wildones,which have no odour and arescornfully called dog-violets, butthe double sweet varieties . These arenow becoming accl imated in America,and in many places have escaped garden bounds and run wi ld .
A violet,parti cularly a si ngle wildon e,would seem a simple flower,y etlearned men have waged wordy battlesas to just why th is flower has beenset on a long stem,why it has itspecul iar shape,why the pollen hascertain characterist ics,and why theflower has a curved horn . What weso fondly call, i n the first days ofspring,the flowers of the blue violetare mere bi ts of pretti ness,l ike a knotof ribbon or a fall of lace upon thecostume of a charmi ng girl,ornamentalbut of small use. The real work of
50
keeping up the species i s done lateron by t iny,i nconspicuous flowers onshort stems or runners and usuallyconcealed among the leaves. Theseflowers never open,but from li ttlepods fi l led with seed,which spl i t openi n autumn, i n several cases not t i l lNovember, shoot i n spiri ted fash ionthe l i ttle seeds hundreds of t imes the i rown length away . Thus they germinate and grow,showing i n the following spri ng the blue fami l i ar faces welove so wel l .
I love all th ings the seasons bring,A ll buds that start,all birds that S ing,A l l leaves from white to jet,A ll the sweet words that summer sendsWhen she recal ls her flowery friendsBut chief the violet
I love,how much I love the rose,On whose soft l ips the south wind blows,ln pretty amorous threat !
The li ly paler than the moon,The odorous,wondrous month of June,Yet more the violet l
5 1
She comes,the first,the fairest thingThat Heaven upon the earth doth fling,Ere Winter's star is set !
She dwell s behind her leafy screenAnd gi ves,as angels give,unseen,So love— the violet
What modest thoughts the violet teaches,What gracious boons the violet preaches,Bright maiden ne’er forget
But learn,and love,an d so depart,And sing thou with thy wiser heart,
‘ Long live the violet ’
Our wild vi olets are of many coloursand varieties and al l of beauty . N ew
Englanders love thei r crowfootviolets, so called on account of theshape of the many- parted leaf. It i sa lovely flower, large, lavender i ncolour,and with an attractive habitof running up a h i lls i de and coveringit with a mantle of bloom . The“crowfoot thrives parti cularly wherethere i s a second growth, and thes ight of it as it strews the green lapof the n ew-come spring,
” while thebluebird whistles from the white-birch
5 2
sapl i ng,i s enough to make on e forgetthe most cruel winter with i ts snOwand ice .
Though wi ld purple violets are g enerally without scent,they are clothedi n the royal colour i n many variousshades and are dear to the heart ofgentle and s imple i n every land . Therei s no country ch i ld at least who hasnot i n the spri ng toi lful ly picked theseflowers on e by on e,regardless of thefact that they wither with the warmthof the small hand . Even if these pur
ple darl i ngs of the Spri ng ho ld noodour,there i s a small wh ite varietywith faint purple ve i ns which ownsa del i cate sweetness not imitated byany other flower. Another welcomeaddi tion to anywi ld garden is a yel lowviolet with downy leaves,which blossoms through the whole summer,bei t ever so long and dry,and evenshows i ts golden face t i l l the frost
53
comes and cuts it down . Bryantextols this violet i n a pretty poem :
When beechen buds begi n to swe l l,And woods the bluebird’s warble know,
The yel low V iolet ’s modest bellPeeps from the last year ’ s leaves below .
Ere russet fields thei r green resume,Sweet flower. 1 love,in forest bare
To meet thee,when thy faint perfumeA lone i s in the virgin air .
Of all her train,the hands of SpringF i rst plant thee in the watery mould,And I have seen thee b lossom ingBeside the snow-bank’s edges cold .
Thy parent sun,who bade thee viewPale skies,and ch i l ling moisture S ip,
Has bathed thee in h is own bright hueAnd streaked wrtlr jet thy glowing l ip .
Y et slig ht tliy form,an d low thy seat,And a rthward bent thy gentle ey e,Unapt the passing view to meet,When Ioft ier flowers are flau n tin g nigh .
Off in the sunles s April dayThy early smile has stayed my walk,
But midst the gorgeous blooms of MayI passed thee on thy humble stal k .
54
Ye V iolets that first appeare,By your pure purple mantles known
Like the proud virg ins of the y eare,As if the spring were all your ownWhat are you when the Rose is b lown ?
Y e curious c haunters of the wood,That warble forth Dame Nature’s layes,
Thinking your passion understoodBy your weak accents ! what ’s your praise,When Philomell her voy ce shal l raise ?
So,when my mistress shall be sceneIn sweetness of her looks and m inde !
By virtue first,then choyce a queen,Tell me,if she was not design ’aTh’ ecly pse and glory of her kind ?
A pretty rondeau by Mr . Monkhouse, a tribute of the nineteenthcentury,runs as follows :
V IOLET.
V iolet delicate,sweet,Down in the deep of the wood,Hid in thy sti ll retreat,Far from the sound of the street,Man and his merc i less mood :
Safe from the storm and the heat,Breathing of beauty and goodFragrant ly,under thy hood,
Violet .
56
Beautifu l maid discreet .Where i s the mate that is meet,Meet for thee st rive as he cou ld
Y et will I kneel at thy feet,Fearing another on e should,
Violet
In many parts of rural Germany thecustom sti ll obtain s of decki ng thecradles of ch i ldren and the bri dal bedsof young girls with wreaths of violets,a ceremony which is known to have
been used among the Celts as wel las the Greeks. In Brandenburg andSi lesi a the violet i s held as a specificagai nst ague,whi le nearly everywhereto dream of th i s flower i s sure to bringgood luck .
There i s no country,however,wherethe violet i s held i n such affect ionas i n France . If i s associ ated withthe tragic fate of on e of the greatest men that ever l ived, NapoleonBonaparte.
Four flowers only in the long l ist
57
of blossoms which decorate the earthhave entered i nto pol it i cs : the rosei n England,the l i ly i n France, theChrysanthemum in Japan,and lastlythe violet,which was more closelyassociated with on e man than withthe country. Fol lowing the lead ofthei r i l lustri ous ki nsman, the Bonaparte family adopted i t as thei remblem .
After Napoleon’
s banishment toElba the violet became more prominent than ever, and his adherentsspoke of him among themselvesas Caporal la Violette, or Papala Violette,
” as sign ificant of thefact that he would return in the
spring.
These hopes were real ised : theviolets bloomed and he returned . Ashe re—entered the Tu illeries on March20,181 5,after h i s escape from Elba,where he had hurried,from the coast
58
i n forced marches,the magic of h isname and his eloquent proclamationsopening on e c ity after another, hefound his bel oved violets everywhere.
The ladies assembled to meet himwore violet-coloured gowns and carried great bunches of these flowers,which they showered upon Napoleonas he mounted the broad steps of thepalace . Bushel s and bushel s of violetswere thrown beneath h is feet as hewalked,but alas ! though the returnwas happi ly accompli shed, the staywas almost as brief as the l ife of aflower. The sad word Waterloocloses a career qui te unexampled fori ts he i ghts and depths, where thisbewildered,despairi ng man lost everyth ing save honour and l ife . At thetime of h is return,l i ttle pictures of abunch of violets were sold everywhereupon the streets . Among the flowersand leaves were to be found profi les
59
of Napoleon,Marie Lou ise,and thel i ttle Ki ng of Rome. For the sake ofth i s grey—eyed man of desti ny thisflower has always remai ned dear tothe Frenchman
’
s heart, and othershave ri sen,rei gned,an d died whoseadherence to it have made it sti l lfurther an Imperial flower.At the death of Napoleon ’ s only
son, he who had been chri stenedwith such wild rejo ici ng King ofRome, violets were again used,though he died i n an unfriendlyland,a sad and lonely lad,deprivedof parents,home,and name. In the
i rony of fate, Marie Louise, Na
poleon’
s second wife, reti red afterh is mi sfortunes to her own Duchyof Parma, whence emanated the
sweet double violets that Napoleonhad loved .
When the beautiful Eugen ie becameEmpress her weddi ng wreath was vio
The growing of violets has become a great industry, and is nowhere more successfully operatedthan around the city of Potsdam,near Berl i n, where there are morepalaces to the square mile than inan y other c ity in the world . Infact, only the very ornamental andthe i ntensely practical exi st in thi sancient Wendish town, whose h istory goes back almost to the beginn ing of things. The ornamen tal i srepresented by the Old Palace,SansSouc i, the N ew Palace, the MarblePalace,Babelsburg, and half-a—dozenothers,while the practi cal takes theform of miles of market-gardens andviolet farms .Very many violets are grown near
N ice i n France to be made i nto es
sence. The beds,which are lai d outi n gardens and shaded by orange andlemon trees, draw from the fragrant
62
ai r that fans thei r petals a n ew spicysweetness which they yield up i ndeath .
In the old cathedral town ofCanterbury,England, i n a small bystreet,i s a quai nt shop where i s madea perfume called Wood Violets .Crowned heads vie with each otherto buy th is essence,which i s di sti l ledin small quantit ies after the formulaof an old receipt,the secret of wh ichis jealously guarded . So great i s thedemand for the amount made that itis almost as costly as attar of roses,but it is i ndeed as sweet as violetswh ich have blown in the shadow ofthe woods .Wou ld you really pluck violets i n a
place lovely enough to have been thespot where they first bloomed forJuno
’
s sake,walk some mild spri ngmorn ing in the sheltered paths of theBobol i Gardens at Florence,and see
63
With the ancient races of Greeceand Rome the l i ly was a favourite forcertai n ceremonies,weddings chiefly,when the priest was supplied withtwo chaplets composed of l i l ies andears of corn,which he placed on theheads of bride and groom to typifypurity and abundance.
In the Bible the references to thisflower are frequent,and it always symbolises sweetness and purity. Fromthe days of the earl iest Crusades pi lgrims to Palestine have sought in vai nfor that l i ly before which the gloryof even Solomon faded . The templeof Solomon was decorated by Hiramwith sculptured l il ies and pomegranates,and in Hebrew the name Susannah sign ifies a l i ly. Shushan,the c ityof scriptural and Pers ian fame,gainsits name from th is same flower,whichis everywhere and i n every tonguecelebrated for its lovel i ness .
68
The white l i ly,often cal led Sai nts’
,
or Annunc iation, l i ly,was dedicatedto the Virgi n as emblemati c of herpurity and beauty,and i t i s regardedas a native of the Holy Land . It i salways used at the Feast of the Visi tation,July 2,which was i nstituted byPope Urban i n commemoration ofthe vis i t pai d by Mary to her cousi nEl i zabeth .
If you wander through the catacombs of Rome you will often findth is flower portrayed on the tombs ofChrist ian maidens . The sybi l whoannounced the I ncarnat ion holds th isflower ! St. Joseph bears a l i ly i n h i shand, and i n many old painti ngs ofthe Last Judgment i s shown a l i ly onon e s ide of the Judge and a sword onthe other.Thi s flower has been often chosen
as the emblem of different orders,orsocieties. On e of the very earl iest
69
was TheOrder of the Li ly ofNavarre,i nsti tuted by Pri nce Garci a,the s ixthof that name,i n the c i ty of Nagera,A. D. 1 048,where the image of theVi rgin Mary issuing out of a l i ly wasdiscovered in the time of the Ki ng’si l lness,who thereupon suddenly re
covered his health, and, i n tokenof grat itude, i nsti tuted the Order ofKnights of St. Mary of the Li ly,consisti ng of e ight and thi rty knightswhereof he was chief. Each of theseweareth a l i ly on his breast,made ofsi lver and a double chain of gold interlaced with the Gothish letter M,whichstands for Mary. At the en d of thechai n hangeth a l i ly carryi ng the sameletter crowned .
In 1 234 Louis IX. of France i nstituted an order of knighthood, themembers of which wore a chai n ofbroom flowers entwi ned with whitel i l ies,s ignifyi ng humil i ty and puri ty.
70
On a cross suspen ded from a chai nwere the words, He exalteth the
humble.
”
Long has the l i ly beenused in heraldry,and it became thepecul i ar flower of the royal House ofBourbon .
To do the l i ly j ust ice,we must turnback the pages of h istory a whi le andreturn to those far-away times when thevictorious Romans crossedtheA lps andbui lt thei r v i l las by the waters of theL oi re and the Mosel le,and even inEngland . With the i r love of beautyand luxury the i r gardens were notn eglected,and many trees,flowers,andshrubs were brought by them fromtheir southern land and cultivated .
Who would th i nk that war,defeat,and d ispers ion would have an effecton such simple th ings as flowers ?
Yet they d id the Roman Empire fel l,and the Teuton i c i nvasi on swept awayvi lla and garden and lai d waste many
7 1
a spot which had been garlanded withbloom ! and
“
so,many spec ies werelost and had to be re- i ntroduced .
You wi ll wonder how the flowerscame agai n to the land which hadbeen swept bare. It i s a pretty tale,for they crept i n i n the wake ofChristian i ty. The very earl iest comersfrom the south were the monks,whocame i n l i ttle bands and graduallybui lt monasteries,and hort iculture revived by the i r efforts . Within thewalls of every monastery was i ncludeda garden,for vegetables were so important a part of the monks
’ diet thati t was as necessary as sleeping-cells.The monks were ski l led gardeners,andif they gave the i r ch ief attention tovegetables the physic garden was wel ltended,and there grew blossomingplants as well as simples and herbs .Even in t imes of war the monas
feries were respected and the gardens
72
A lmost more than any other flowerdoes the l i ly depend on the beauty ofits blossom alone for favour,as thefoli age i n most varieties i s spare andi nconspicuous .Of all colours,white i s the pre
vai li ng on e ! and of white flowers aconsiderably larger proportion smellsweet than of any other colour,namely
per cent . So says Charles Darwin,and the reason given is that theymay attract the i nsects,which have solarge a work to do i n keepi ng up thespec ies .The most bri ll i ant members of this
fami ly come from China,Japan,andBu rma,and i n all there are about twothousand spec ies . There are manypretty names among them, l ike theLi ly-of-the-ln cas,a bright flowerwhichmakes gay many of the warmer partsof the N ew World The Lily—of—thePalace i s another native of America,
74
or wood l i ly, which blossoms asvividly as a torch . The Easter l i ly,as we call that sweet white flowerwhich we have come to associate withthis joyous festival,i s a comparativelyn ew comer to our shores. About 1875some bulbs were brought by a Phi ladelph ia woman and given to a floristof that city. In the course of a fewyears they had i ncreased greatly andwere brought up by an enterprisi ngflorist who named them after h imself,L ilium Horrz
'
su,and who introducedthem all over the country. The l i lytribe i s spoken of by Linnaeus as thenobles or patric ians of the vegetablekingdom,and another and older writersays that the flowers should be used“to deck up gardens,the boson i s ofthe beautiful,garlands and crowns forpleasure .
In Spain they tell that the l i ly canrestore to human form those who have
76
been transformed into beasts . The
l i ly—of-the—val ley has had many em
blems conferred upon i t,all of whichare equal ly appropriate. Thu s, i nreference to the bright,hopeful seasonof spring,i n which i t blossoms,it i sregarded as the symbol of the returnof happiness,whi le i ts del icate perfume has long been indicat ive ofsweetness,and i ts snow-white flowers of purity. Old Gerarde say eth,“ Flowers of L i ly-of-the—Valley bei ngclose stopped up in a glass,and putinto an ant- hi ll and taken away amonth after,y e shall find a l iquor i nthe glass which,be i ng outwardly applied,helpeth the gout. It is a matter of speculat ion what the ant-h i l lhad to do with d ist i l l ing the l i quor.In Japan,where flowers have rank,
wh ite flowers are the aristocrats . In
Maud’
s garden white l i l ies bloomed,and Landor writes, I l i ke white
77
flowers better than - any others, andhe names the l i ly first of all. Therei s a Jewish legend whi ch says thatJudith bound a wreath of white l i l iesi n her hai r to avert evi l when she
went to the tent of Holofernes .A l l the poets have sung the Iilies’
praises .
It is not growing like a t reeIn bulk,doth make man better be !
Or stan ding long an oak,three hundred year,To fal l a log at last,dry,bald,and sere '
A l i ly of a dayls fai rer far in May,
A lthoug h it fall and die that nightIt was the plant and flower of L ight .
In small proportions we j ust beauties see !And in short meas ures l ife may perfect be.
BEN JONSON .
Mi lton pai nts a pretty picture of Sabri na twisti ng l i l ies i n her ambercoloured hair.
Sabrina fair,L isten where thou art sitting
Under the glassy,cool,translucent wave,In twisted braids of lil ies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair .
78
There i s a l i ttle poem by Dr. VanDyke called The Li ly of Yorrow,which embodies the pri nciples ofthe Lotus-eaters . He pictures thesearch for thi s marvel lous l i ly, andhow the finder of i t forgets homeand friends,and passes beyond the
ken of those who loved him . The
largest flower in the world i s the l i lynamed in honour of Queen Victoria,the Victoria Regia,and i t is a nativeof Brazi l . In fact, i t i s almost toolarge for beauty, and on e standsamazed at i ts enormous blossoms andits boat- l i ke leaves . The flowers arerose-white, and somet imes measuretwo feet across,whilst the leaves arefive feet i n d iameter and have a rimwhich turns up five i nches . I t i s sai dthat they will support the weight of afull—grown man .
In Greek and Roman mythology thewater—l i ly was N ymphea,a water god
79
dess,and the leaves of these floatingbeauties are the only leaves in thewholevegetable kingdom which are known aspads. The reason given for this i s thati n Sanscri t theword water- Iily ispodmu,and in someway i t has clung in a mutilated form to our water- nymph .
On e of the greatest charms of thisspec ies of l i ly is the length of timeduring which it g lorifies our waterways . From June unti l September thebud rises from the muddy depths,up,up,toward the l i ght and sun,unti l at lasti t bursts into bloom,a perfect flower.There i s a pretty Indian legend
about the water- l i ly,and among theLenape,when the braves are sitti ngabout the camp—fire and the young
g irls whisper to each other th i s i s on eof the oft-repeated tales .For as long as on e can remember
there has been a group of stars shini ng brightly in the heavens,called the
80
proud and vain,she saw on e man k i l lanother for gold .
Merope was sad and drew back,but havi ng tasted of the knowledgeof strange sights,the next n ight shelooked again . As she leaned far overthe bar of heaven, A lcyone g raspedon e hand,and with the other Meropeheld low the flaming torch . Thisn ight she saw happier scen es chi ldren at play,happy homes and
'
lovers .
Far out i n the forest she sawl
men
with feathers in the i r hai r and skinsof an imals for clothes gathering abouta fire. In the centre of the circle SatSacarrappa,the greatest brave of all,Who,they said,had been brought tothe tribe on the back of a gull .Long they talked of war,and Merope
shuddered ti l l she saw from on e of themost distant tepees a young girl stealforth and gl ide swiftly through theWood . Her l ittle feet clad in soft ski n
82
help Little Rosebud i nto the canoe,and she saw thecamp all i n confusionwhen the absence of the chief’s daughter was di scovered,and many armedwarriors hastened i n pursui t . The
night was so dark Merope feared thelovers could not see the ir course,soshe leaned farther out,her hand sl ippedfrom A lcyone
’s,and she fel l -headlongthrough space,right into the streamwhere the lovers had passed . Asher torch touched the water i t wasshivered into a thousand sparks,andlo,each on e of these became a waterl i ly,purewhite,and bearing in its hearta star of gold .
So fast the l i l ies grew that the pursuers could not push the i r canoesamong them,and the tough stems ofthe leaves impeded the paddles . Thisis how poor Merope fel l,leavi ng butsix si sters i n the Plei ades,and this ishow our sweetest l i ly came to us .
84
The Wallachi ans have a supersti t ionthat every flower has a sou l,and thatthe water- l i ly, sweet and stai nless,blooms at the gate of Parad ise to judgethe rest and to i nqui re strictly whatthey have done with the i r odours.It i s said in the Rh ine di strict that if
you gather a water- l i ly,repeating somemagic verses,i t wi l l keep witches away.
Our own fai r land is pecul iarly richi n these water nymphs or water- l i l ies,for i t i s the only country where maybe found blooming white,yel low,pinkand blue water- l i l ies . Row but oncedown some stream where these sweetflowers grow,before sunrise. Youwill find naught but the floating leavespri-eked here and there by the pointedgreen buds . Overthe same stream rowonce agai n when the sun is coming upwarm and golden,and see the l i l ies burstopen,cloth i ng the surface of the waterwith a field of fragrant wh iteness .
85
John Banister Tabb has embodiedin a trifle of verse a fancy of his ownconcern i ng the water- l i ly . This i show it runs
Whence,O fragrant form of l ight,Hast thou drifted through the night,Swan like,to a leafy nest,On the restles s waves,at rest ?
Art thou from the snowy z oneOf a mountain-summ it b lown,Or the blossom of a dream,Fash ioned in the foamy streamNay, methmks the maiden moon,When the daylight came too soon,Fleeing from her bath to h ide,Left her garment in the t ide .
Nor is the l i ly the chi ld only of thelowlands and fragrant meads ! she
cl imbs to high altitudes, and hangsh
'
er bel l of sweetness there. When onthe di zzy he ights which bound someprecipice,she lays asi de the shrinkin gmanner of lowly surroundings,an dtakes on that daring look whi ch ispecul iar to al l flowers which dwel l onthe l imits of perpetual snow and ice.
86
Alpine plants possess the charmof endless variety -
(
and i nclude thingswidely different t iny orchi ds,freel ike moss,and ferns that peep fromcrevices of alpi ne cl i ffs,often so smallthat they seem to cl ing to the rocks
for shelter,not daring to throw torththei r fronds with ai ry grace ! bu lbousplan ts,from li l ies to bluebel ls ! evergreen shrubs,perfect in leaf,blossom,and fru i t, y et so smal l that a glasswould make a house for them ! dwarfest creepin g plants,spreading over thebrows of rocks, draping them withlovel iest colour, rockfo i ls and stonecrops no b igger than mosses,and l ikethem,mantl i ng the earth with greencarpets i n winter ! i n a word,alpineplants embrace nearly every type of
the plant l i fe of northern lands.Robert Southey, writing in The
Doctor, pai nts,more than a centuryago,apicture of a garden,and i t mig ht
87
wel l stand for a model of on e to-day,with its richness of colour and sweetness .
“ Neither Miss A l l i son nor her n iecewould have taken any pleasure i n ' agarden l ike th is (a French formal on e),which had nothing of a garden butthe name. They both del i ghted inflowers : the aunt because to herflowers were ‘ redolent of youth,
’
and
never fai led to awaken tender recollect ions ! Betsy for an opposite reason,having been born and bred i n London,a nosegay there had seemed always
to bring her a foretaste of those e h
joymen ts for which she was lookingforward with eager hope . They hadstocked thei r front-garden,therefore,with the gayest and the sweetestflowers that were cultivated in thosedays,—larkspurs,both of the gian tand dwarf variety,and of al l colours !sweet-Wi l l i ams of the richest hues !monk
’
s—hood for i ts stately growth,88
If you wish to unlock the realms ofpoetry and romance you must turn tothat famous l i ly of the East,the sacredLi ly of the N i le,the lotus. There ishardly a tale i n Oriental mythologywhere i t has not a place. Buddha iscalled The White Lotus of the GoodLaw and is always shown holdin g al i ly i n each hand . In Egypt this flowerwas represented as the throneof Osiris,the god of day.
The true Egyptian lotus i s ei ther blueorwhite ! the pink variety was broughtto Egypt i n Roman times,and does notnow grow there wi ld . It i s a nativeof southeastern Asia,and was cultiJ
vated i n Egypt for food . The roots ofthe blue lotus are also edible,and thi sfact i s sai d to have been made knownby Isis to herworshippers. The budsand flowers of this species are oftendepicted on monuments as early asthree thousand years before Christ.
90
seems to have del ighted himmost wasthe lotus,which i n the form of wreathsdecorated the brows of the guests . A
favourite fashion was to have a singlebud hang down upon the centre offorehead . I t was also the custom topresent on e to each guest,
‘
and the
host had a bowl of them placed infront of him .
In the Flowery Kingdom itself,where every bird and flower i s lovedand tended,what wonder that thisbeautiful bloom holds a place ? Here,too,i s the l i ly,the flower of faith,thesacred flower of Buddha,seen alwaysin the temples dedicated to that god.
Seldom are they l ivi ng flowers,but arereproductions i n bronze,brass,gold,or coloured papers . By the fingers ofthe artistic Japanese are made flowersof exquisi te beauty,which seem topartake of the joyous nature of theworshippers of Buddha,— somethin g
92
unusual“
to western eyes . There i snothi ng grim,austere,or solemn i nthei r faith . The temples are brig ht,and the people take thei r religioncheerfully and with smi les . Not
“ onlyin the temples is the lotus flower porfrayed,but it i s a common device uponthe tombstones, a favourite patternbe in g two blossoms with thei r
?
stalksentwi ned . The l i ttle Buddhist chi ldren of Japan have a god of their ownwho is represented as standi ng on arosy lotus . H is name i s Jiz o—Sama,and when the souls of ch i ldren are
frightened by demons they hastento Jiz o,and he hides them in h isgreat sleeves and drives the demonsaway.
On fest ival days the lotus buds andflowers are sold i n immense bunchessupported i n frames of bamboo . The
leaves are sold separately,and are usedto wrap the food which i s. to be offered
93
to the spiri ts of loved ones With theJapanese the word “ garden does notalways sign ify a place where plantsgrow. I t may be acres in extent or i tmay be en compassed by the walls ofa ti ny d ish . I t i s always a product ofart and is nearly always beautiful .In the gardens of the we l l- to-do you
wil l general ly find a pondlet wherethere are beautiful water—l i l ies whosebright green leaf- disks float peacefullyupon the surface, and many lotusplants of two kinds,pink and white,grow there also . It i s a del ight towatch every phase of the marvel lousgrowth of these plants,from the firstunroll ing of the leaf to the fal l of thelast flower . On rai ny days they areparticularly worth studyi ng. The irgreat cup—shaped leaves,swaying highabove the pond,catch an d hold therain . After the water reaches a certai nheight the stem bends,and the leaf,
94
ti ppi ng,pours the water out with asplash and then straightens again .
Not only the l i l ies find a home i n thesesweet ponds,but there are frogs,l i ttlecreatures much beloved by the Japanese,who have written many poemsabout them and the ir songs .
In such a setti ng no wonder thelotus blossoms in beauty i n Japan .
The pai nti ngs of Paradise made byJapanese arti sts show the happy soulsof the dead,garden ing ! they fondlethe lotus buds,spri nkl ing the i r petal swith someth ing mysterious, help ingthe buds to blossom .
I n Si am the lotus i s the nationalflower and i nterwoven inextricablywith i ts poetry and rel igion . Thereare both the pink and white variet ies,and as with the Japanese,they are reproduced i n many materi als .Outside of the city of Bangkok on e
can sai l for mi les over flooded fields
95
covered with the white blossoms.The royal lotus ponds are not i n theCity of Bangkok,at the King
’s palace,but some mi les outside the town,i na beautiful garden where there i s atemple and pleasure palace. A lmostevery rel igious ceremony uses the
lotus,and the S iamese have a legendthat when Buddha appeared as a manencircled by a halo of glory,the earthblossomed spontaneously and i n profusion with th is beautiful flower. In
the funeral processions the lotus i sborne on tridents .Who can begrudge the l i ly the
love and veneration which has beenshowered upon her,or fai l to give herthe wel l-won title of The Flower ofFaith ?
96
H IGH IN PARADISE BY THE
HE history of the Queen of
Flowers goes back to far-awaytimes and to distant lands ! i t
i s woven i n with the loves and l ivesof many peoples,y et it comes downthe h ighways of Time with never avoice rai sed except i n praise .
Born i n the East,the rose i s a chi ldof the sun . It has,nevertheless,garlan ded the whole world,even to theregions of snow and ice,where theE squ imaux du ri ng the ir brief summertend and gather i t to deck the i r persons and the i r homes. In I celand,sosays M . Boitard,where vegetat ion i sscanty i n the extreme,a pale cup- l ikerose i s found,as dear to its possessorsas the hundred- leaved flower with
99
which the beautiful Circassian,dwel li ng in the northwest of Asia,wreathesher
”brows . In Egypt we find sea
roses and tea- roses and the del i catel i ttle rock- rose,whose lovely bloomsclothe barren spots only.
All the world over and from timeimmemorial the rose has been theflower of Love. The old song run s,
My luv is l ike the red,red rose,
and it is a flower of thi s colour that thelover always chooses when he wishestogive a token to the on e who i s thefai rest and dearest in his eyes . Go,lovely rose, he whispers as he speedsh is flower on its mission,
Tel l her that wastes her time and meThat now she
When I resemble her to thee,How sweet and fair she seems to b e.
More than w ith any other flowerdoes the colour of the rose have spe
cial sign ificance Red i s love,white i sI 0 0
In Roumania they tel l this little taleto account for the blush rose : A fairyoung princess came on e day to bathein the si lver waves of the sea. So lovelyand full of grace was she that thesun paused in h is journey and lookeddown on her. As long as she sportedhe stood stock sti ll in the sky. Thisput N ight i n a bad temper,and shecomplained to the Lord of the Un iverse . He ordered the sun to continuei ts course,but the Orb of Day paidno attention . In anger the Lord ofthe Universe changed the Princessi nto a rose,and her doom is to blushand hang her head whenever the sungaz es on her.
The Rose of Sharon is sung of inthe
“Song of Song s . The Rose of
Jerichohas been called Sai nt Mary’
sRose, and is regarded with specialreverence,as the sacred legend saysit first blossomed at Christ
’s bi rth,1 0 2
cloister he no lon ger. had time toobserve thi s practice. This di stressedhim much,and he asked counsel ofan aged priest,who advised him tosay hi s Aves every even ing,whichwould be accepted by Our Lady inl ieu of the garlands which he couldno longer provide.
So from thi s time on the youngmonk said an extra prayer,and on e
day he was sent on a journey,i n thecourse of which he had to passthrough a dark and lonely wood,where,unknown to him,some robbers laid in wait for chance travel lers .
Qui te unsuspicious,the young monkpursued his way, unti l he suddenlyremembered that h is Aves were notsai d, and he stopped to say them .
Then,to their surprise,the robbers sawa most glorious lady stand before him,and take from the kneel i ng monkfifty beautiful roses,which she wove
1 0 4
i nto a wreath and p laced on her headThe robbers,conscience stricken at thevis ion,renounced thei r evi l Ways,andwere converted to a better l ife .
Ach i lles Tati us,writing The Lovesof Clitophon and Leucippe i n thefifth century,compares h is love to allk i nds of charming flowers .Leucippe
’
s countenance faire surpas sed the rare and exqui si te splendourof the peacocke,nay the whole garden,for i n her forehead were daffodi ll ies,i n her cheekes roses,i n her eyes violets,her locks were more curled than thetwin i ng lvie,and every part held suchcorrespondence with the Garden,that1 may truly say the best flowers werei n her face.
Will iam Lawson, gardener andwriter, gives too h i s part ial favoursfor The Rose red,damaske,velvetand double,double province Rose,thesweet muske Rose double and si ngle,
1 0 5
the double and s ingle whi te Rose.
The violette noth ing behinde for smel lin g sweetly, and a 1 000 more wi llprovoke your content.Thomas Fuller ( 1608 laden !
with offices and dignities,y et had time in!to write of h is beloved flowers. Inhis An theolog ia,or The Speech of
“
F lowers ! partly Morall,partly Misticall, he discourses thus of a smal lScantl i n of some three Acres .
For there was yel low Marigolds,Wal lflowers,Auriculusses,GoldKnobs,and abundance of other namelesse
Flowers,which would pose a Nome’
nelator to call them by thei r di st i nctdenominat ions . There was White,the Dayes Ey e,white roses, L illyesetc. Blue,Violet, lrisse,Red Roses,P ionies etc. A l l the chi ldren ofF lorabei ng summoned there,to make theirappearance at a great solemnity.
Shakespeare mentions the rosemore1 0 6
frequently than”
any other flower,andalways as the symbol of what i s lovelyand fai r . On every occasion,
'
whether
of joy or sorrow,thi s lovely flower hasa place .
The l uxurious Greeks and Romanscrowned themselves with roses whenthey feasted they bound these flowersabout thei r bowls of wine ! they scattered them upon the table . The
lavish Cleopatra decked her ban quethall wi th roses for a feast and d idnot consi der w hat we would call athousand dollars too much to expendon thei r frai l beauty . Nero the Ter
rible” spent a hundred times that
amoun t for garlands and rose wreathsfor a s i ngle di nner . N ot content withthe roses themselves,th i s same Neroshowered his guests with rose-water,and when he i n his turn honoured anoble by din i ng with h im,the hostwas compel led to have the fountai ns
1 0 7
play rose—water: The Romans set aspecial value on this blossom as afuneral flower,an d left directions i nmany instances that their graves shouldbe planted with them . In Chinatherose and anemone are chosen for thissame offi ce.
The Legend of Fair Margaret andSweet Wi ll iam declares,to the accom
pan imen t of a doleful tune,that outof her heart grew a white rose,andout of his a brier.In Persia,where the rose flourishes
i n great beauty,there i s a wealth“
of
romance woven about it . The rosean d the nightingale are for ever l i nkedtogether. A bit of folklore declaresthat whenever the rose i s plucked thenightingale utters a plaint ive cry because it cannot endure to see the
object of its love injured. The Pers i anpoet Attar tel ls a legend of all thebirds appearing before Solomon and
1 0 8
made. N -oorjehan Begum,the favourite
'
wife of Jehan—Geer,i s given c reditfor -its discovery. Walking on e dayi n her garden,which was as beau tifuland fragrant as wealth and love couldmake i t, she felt oppressed by theheat . Through the garden ran a l ittlestream of pure rose-water, and tomake i t sti l l sweeter the petals of palepi nk roses were scattered upon it .N oorjehan threw herself down bes idethi s stream,and having nothing to dobut count her fingers and toes and tel lover the jewels she wore,she soonwearied of this labour an d her eyesrested on the flowing water . She saw
some oi ly drops on i ts surface,andglad to rel ieve her en nui in an y way.called on a slave to skim them off.
The only th ing at hand with which todo th is was a veil of gauze,which wasboun d about the slave
’
s head,and withthis she removed the offending drops.
I 1 0
When she rai sed the vei l to b i nd it ini ts place she noti ced the sweet odourit bore,which came from the l i ttle ohdrops . She told Noorjehan of i t,andher mistress also del ighted in the
sweetness,and sent for a sea- shel l anda t i ny flask . With her own handsshe gathered the drops as they floatedpast . Day after day she amused herself by gathering this sweetness,ti llthe prec ious l i ttle flask was full .Then she gave i t to her lord . JehanGeer Seems to have been of a commercial turn of mi nd,for straightwayhe set slaves to work to make theprecious oil. Yet N oorjehan each daygathered i t drop by drop from her
rose-bordered stream,declari ng it wassweeter far than that extracted by theslaves.
Few roses have anyth i ng l ike rQ
mance connected with thei r early h istory. It i s usual ly a matter of budding,
or patien t wait i ng on seedl ings,but theYork and Lancaster rose has a historyall i ts own,an d has just been rescuedfrom obl ivion . The detai ls of i ts earlypropagation i n England are not known .
The story goes that when the rivalhouses of York and Lancaster, afterfightin g from 1445 to 1486,dec i dedto en d the Wars of the Roses,and,sealthei r truce by the marriage of Eli zabeth of York and Henry the Seventh,the red and white roses which had beenthe badges of thei r fealty were blendedin on e flower,which showed both thered and thewhite i n its striped petals.For many a long year on both si des
of the water thi s was a favourite ornament in old—fashioned gardens, butnot bei ng easi ly rooted i t graduallyd ied out . After more than twentyyears of patient effort, the rose hasbeen built up agai n,and once moretel ls the old story of its origi n .
1 1 2
Wordsworth,i n on e of h is poems,speaks of th is rose. In some of the oldH
'
erballs thi s rose i s ment ioned also .
Wordsworth’
s verse goes as follows :
From town to town,from tower to tower.The red rose is a gladsome flower !Her thirty years of winter pastThe white rose i s revived at las t,She l ift s her head to endless SpringFor everlasting blossoming !Both roses flourish,red an d white,In love and sister ly delight .The two that were at strife are b lended,And a ll o ld sorrows now are ended .
Joy,joy to both ! but most to herWho i s the flower of Lancaster
The House of Stuart bore the whi terose as its emblem,and June 1 0 wasset apart as White Rose Day, fori t was the birthday of the unhappyJames, the Pretender. A full-blownrose was chosen by the Tudors forthei r flower, and i t b lossoms out in
wood and stone all over the historicmonuments of England .
For many years i n Germany and in1 1 3
Scandinavia the rose was cons idereda mystic flower,under
-
the particularprotection of dwarfs and elves,whoi n turn were ruled by the Lord of theRose Garden, King Laurin . Fourgolden gates led to this magical garden,and when they were closed woeto him who should enter there. If
any on e should dare to pluck a rose,both a hand and a foot were forfei t,for Thus Laurin,King of Dwarfs,rules within his land .
”
I n Germany,as wel l as in Italy and France, i t i swhispered that if a maid is desirousof having rosy cheeks she must planta drop of blood beneath a rose—bush .
O n e of the prettiest ceremonies conn ectedwith the rose was the Tributeof Roses which was held in France .
I n early days the Parl iament,placedbetween the Church and royalty,formed on e of the great powers of theState. It was not always in Paris,but
1 1 4
to speak to his mistress. At n ighthe
'
sought herWi ndow,s inging to hi slute on e of the charming love songsof Provence. Marie,wise beyond h eryears,warned him from her windowthat the case entrusted to his carewould be lost on the morrow if hedid not prepare himself The countacted upon her advice,and the nextday presented his argument with sucheloquence and ski ll that he won hiscase,and h is bride too . When QueenB lanche placed Marie
’s hand in his shesaid: To perpetuate this day,and toremind the young peers of France to dothei r duty,I shall expect them to givea tribute each year to my Parl iament,and it shall be a Tribute of Roses .
From this year,1 227,unti l 1 541,on thefirst day of May,the youngest peer ofFrance presented a si lver bowl of rosesto Parl iament . After surviving forover three hundred years th i s pretty
1 1 6
thorns ? Not by”
way of a maid,butthrough the petulant humour of DanCupid . On e day in Paradise th is l i ttlei dle boy was flying over a garden ofroses,seeking,no doubt,what misch ief he might find to do . Blossoming in the garden was a newly openedrose,blushi ng pink with its own lovelin ess . Cupid bent to kiss i t,when10 ! a bee curled up in the heart of theflower stung him on the l ip . Cryingwith pai n,straight to h is mother Venusflew the boy,vowing vengeance on thebee . Venus,to satisfy him,gave hima bow strung with captive bees,andset the stem of the rose with stingstorn from the poor bees . It is thesestings that we call thorns .No country in the world is more
rich ly dowered with this Queen ofFlowers than our own .
I n 1 670 Daniel Denton publishedA Briefe Description of N ew York.
1 1 8
Thy sy lvan lovelin essjs pure and st rong,For thou art br ight and y et not overboldLike a young maid apart from fashion ’s throngA V irgin dowered with a heart of gold .
I n Tacoma,with snow-clad mountains gleaming in the distance, theyel low roses blossom in riotous profusion ,clambering up to the roof trees,peering i nto the windows as they pass .I n Cal ifornia,roses grow in such n umbers and such beauty that a “Tournament of Roses i s on e of the annualfestivals of the State.
I t i s i n that cl imate,blessed withalmost eternal summer,that strangerroses from distant lands bloom almostas freely as i n thei r own home. The
pale La France,the del i cate Noisette,may be gathered in Lower Cal iforni aalmost any month in the year.With thorns,we expect the rose todefend herself,but with shadowsshall she have a shadow too ?
1 2 0
THE SHADOW ROSEA N oisette on my garden pathAn ever swaying shadow throws !But if 1 pluck it stroll ing by,I p luck the shadow with the rose .
Just near enough my heart you stoodTo shadow it, but was it fai r
In him,who plucked and bore you off,To leave your shadow lingering there
Frank Dempster Sherman explai nsi n verse how i t i s that at sunrise i n themorn ing you wi l l find the petals of therose wet with dew .
THE ROSE’S CUP .
Down in a g arden olden,Just where,I do not know,
A buttercup all goldenChanced near a rose to g row !And every morning early,Before the birds were up,
A tiny dewdrop pear lyFel l in this li tt le cup .
This was the drink of waterThe rose had every day !But no on e y et has caught herWhile drinking in this way .
Surely,it is no treasonTo say she drinks so y et,
For what may b e the reasonHer lips with dew are wet.
1 2 1
It i s at thi s charming v
h our,and atsunset as wel l,that the humming.
b irds,of which Cal iforn ia boasts halfa dozen spec ies,seek the roses,andrifle them of the ir sweets,which aredoubly sweet when di sti l led with dew.
The flower chosen by N ew YorkState as i ts emblem is the always lovelymoss-rose. This modest flower has apretty l i ttle story as to how its budsbecame clothed in moss . There i s on epart icular an gel,so runs the tale,whoseduty it is to bathe youn g flower budsin dew . Wearied out with his labours,the spiri t on e warm day in Jun e laydown beneath a rose-bush and fel lasleep . When he awoke refreshed hewhispered to the rose,
“ Fairest of thefair, so thankful am I for the sweetshade you gave me as I slept,thatask what you will of me, i t shall be
granted . The modest rose waited .a
moment,and not knowi n g her 0 13m
1 2 2
lovel i ness sai d, On 'me another gracebestow . The angel looked on her
si lently, wonderi ng what grace the
flower wanted,owning already sweetn ess, fai rness,and modesty .
“Waitbut a moment,lovely rose, he cried,and h ied away to the forest. There,spread on the ground beneath an oak,he found what he sought, a carpetof moss . Kneel i ng,he gathered on e byon e i ts fin e and lace- l i ke sprays,choosi ng only those which glowed greenestand were most del i cate . When bothh is hands were fi l led he hurried backto the rose and bound tenderly abouteach bud a vei l of the green moss,
And robed in Nature’ s simplest weed,Could there a flower that rose exceed
Of all peoples,perhaps the Hindushave the most mysti c and y et the mostsi ncere love for flowers. They wi llwander al l day through a garden,pausi ng before a flower, studyi ng and
1 23
admiring it,weaving fanciful tales regarding it,and
“
expending on ii bothlove
l
and care . Vishnu,on e of the
three ch ief gods of Hindu mythology,found his wife Lakshmi i n the heartof a rose. Listen to how it cameabout. On e day Vishnu was floatingon the water to cool h imself from theheat of the day. Suddenly he saw beside him a lotus flower slowly openingi ts petals . From the middle of the l i ly,when i t was fully blown,rose Brahma.The two gods fell i nto conversation,and soon came to quarrel l i ng overwhich was the most beautiful flowerin the world . Brahma turned andpointed to the lotus from which he hadjust risen,and which floated,with itspink-tipped petals ri si ng rank on ran k,a perfect flower with a heart of gold .
But Vishnu would not agree w ithBrahma.“ In Vaikun tha,my paradise, said
grew the lovel iest flower in theworld .
Drawing -near, they could see the
towersof Vishnu’
s palace ris ing abovethe encircl i ng wal ls,and when -aS inglenote sounded from the conch-shel lthe gates swung open .
Will you banquet first saidVishnu, or will you first see the
flower which as far excels your lot-usas the moon does a tiny star ?
The flower,first the flower, criedBrahma,for the Hindu wi ll ever preferthe pleasure to be had from the contemplation of beauty.
So Vishnu led h im to a bowerformed all of mother-of—pearl . It wasopen on every side,so that the sweetwinds could sweep through and thesunshine could look ! in . The roofonly kept off the heavy rains. Be
neath th is shelter grew a rose- tree,slender and graceful,with glossy greenleaves . It bore but a si ngle flower of
1 2 6
ti nged with that envious shade,butthe bride rose never grows less sweetor fair.
Music,when soft voices die,Vibrates in the memory !Odours,when sweet violet s sicken,Live within the sen se they quicken .
Rose leaves,when the rose is dead,Are heaped for the beloved’ s bed,And so thy thoughts,when thou art gone.
SHEL L EY .
1 2 8
S on e looks on the l i lac, l ikethe rose a wanderer from the
Orient,he wonders why th i sfavourite of old gardens ever lost i tspopularity . Who can picture a garden with bordered walks and sundial,pleached al ley and fountain, whichdid not have ei ther rows or clumpsof th i s darl ing of the spri ng ?In its branches,protected by theclose-set leaves,the robin bui lds hernest . wThe catbi rd,choicest si nger ofthe h ome choi r, pipes his melodyfrom i ts swaying twigs, and the
son g i sparrow wi ll desert her favourite lowly nesting site to weave hergrass- l ined cup amid i ts blue-g reenfofiage.
1 3 1
Near the kitchen door‘
cf thoserambl ing old houses bui lt by the
sturdy Dutch on e will find many . agnarled and ancient bush wh ich i nMayt ime i s clothed in beauty and redolent with sweetness,content for theremain i ng eleven months to draw intothe background and be forgotten formore splend id but less fragrant blossoms . Drive through the coun try,particularly N ew England, i n the
springtime,and many an abandonedfarm wi ll wave a welcome to youthrough its l i lac blossoms .More pathet ic y et are those rui ned
homes of which no traces are left savea crumbl ing foundation and,perhaps,the worn doorstep,sti ll protected byits li l ac-bushes bending over it as
'
if toconceal i ts desolate conditi on .
Whittier,i n The Homestead,“gives
a sad picture of such a deserted ,dwel l i ng
Ag a inst the wooded In ll_ 1t stands !Ghost of a dead home,star ing through
Its broken l ights on wasted landsWhere old-t1me harvests grew .
Unploughed,unsown,by scythe unshornThe poor,forsaken farm-fields lie,
Once r ich and r ife with golden cornAnd pale green breadths of ry e .
Of healthful herb and flower bereft,T he garden plot no housewife keeps,Through weeds and tangle only left,The snake,its tenan t,creeps .
A h lac Spray,sti ll b lossom~clad,
Sways slow before the empty rooms !Beside the roofless porch a sadPathetic red rose b looms.
O n the shores of the Ashley R iver,not
.
many miles from Charlé st-b n ,
South Carol ina, may be found themost desolate spot which on e can i
'
m
agine. The picture i s d ifferent fromthe New England view,for an additional touch of melancholy i s givenby the grey moss which drapes everytree, and which is st irred by everypassi ng breeze,a noiseless,flutteringcloud of grey, a pall,i n th is case.
1 33
In the last half of the seventeenthcentury,a band of men,Who Couldnot find under the laws of the Massachusetts Colony that freedom ofthought and act which they desi red,set forth to found a n ew town,and towrest from the wilderness of Carol inahomes for themselves and theirfamilies.
They started from Dorchester,Massachusetts, and i n remembrance ofth 1s they named the n ew clearing onthe Ash ley,Dorchester,also . Littleby li tt le the town grew and prospered.
They built first some rude homesl
for
themselves,then a church,and thena fort .By 1 750,e ighteen hundred souls
l ived here : there were half a dozenplantations,more than on e manorhouse,a race-track,upon which thearistocrats from Charleston loved tospeed thei r blooded horses,and man yevidences of prosperi ty, i ncludi ng
1 34
arm,aud'
i ts branches spread far andwide,conceal i ng the desolation,an dmaking on e spot of beauty where allel se i s sad .
When I saw i t i n the Spring,hundreds of blossoms crowded on itsbranches,and around it hovered slender brown bees,whi le from the shelter of i ts branches the white- throate
'
d:
sparrow called,and the cardinal birdwhi stled, Cheer- up,oh,cheer- up.
So enshrined in our sentiments andaffection i s thi s shrub that we scarcelycan real ise that i t i s a foreigner broughtto our shores. Twelve spec ies arefound -in a wi ld state through variousparts of southwestern Europe,centralAsi a, the Himalayas to Mongol ia,northern China,and Japan . There areseveral statements as to how it becamedistributed over European gardens,but the most authent ic seems to bethat i t was brought to Vienna by
1 36
Women in the Far East,as a ru le,cannot read or write! and by them thelanguage of flowers is studied,for byits means may be told a whole lovestory,a warni ng may be given,or evenso tame a thi ng as a message of friend:shi p expressed . Not only i n thesesummer lands may a gentle heart beswayed by the sentiment which l ies inthe cup of a flower .I n a quaint old annual bound in
green and gold,much scored with fai ntpenci l l i nes,about verses of sentiment,I found the language of the l i lac to beunrequ i ted love. Pressed betweenthe pages were a few l i lac blossomsmade i n to a l ittle chai n after the fanciful manner of ch i ldren . So dry andwithered were the flowers that theyfairly fel l apart i n dust as they wereturned over. There was the singlename Aretheu se on the fly -leaf.Were the t iny chai n and the shabby
1 38
book all that was left of a tale ofuurequi ted love ? Poor
“
Arethéuse,werethose spots on the page tear stai ns ?Whence came you ? Whither have
you gone ? Nevertheless, your littlebook shal l no longer be knocked abouton a
,counter covered with dust,n eg
lected and despised ! i ts faded leavesshall be tied with a b i t of l i lac ribbonand lai d gently by .
Among Lowel l’s poems are many onflowers ! thei r charms and sweetnessare extolled,and many graceful fanciesare woven about them . But for thel i lac,although it blossomed freely inhis garden,he has l i ttle to say ! tworeferences only can I find . The prettyl i ttle trifle following i s on e of them :
AUF W IEDERSEHEN“The litt le gate was reached at las t,
Half hid in lilacs down the lane !She pushed it wide,and,as she past,A wistful look she backward cast,And said, Auf weidersehen 1
I S9
With hand on latch,a V is ion whiteLingered reluctant,an d again
Half doubting if she did ar ight,Soft as the dews that fell that n ight,She said, Auf wiedersehen 1
The lamp ’ s clear gleam flits up th e stairI l inger in del icious painAh,in that chamber,whose rich airTo breathe in thought I scarcely dareThinks she, Auf wiedersehenT is th i rteen years ! once more I pressThe turf that si lences the lane !I hear the rustle of her dress,I smel l the l i lac,and ah,y es,I hear Auf wiedersehen
Sweet piece of bashful maiden artThe English words had seemed too fain,But these they drew us heart to heart,Yet held us tenderly apart !She said, ‘ Auf wiedersehen
I n h i s poem A l Fresco he mentionson e of the favouri te tenants of the
The Rob in smg s,as of old,from the limb !The catb i rd croons from the li lac-bush
Through the dim arbor,himself more dimSilently hops the hermit-thrush .
”
The name l i lac i s derived from the
Pers ian lz'
lag,which sign ifies a flower,1 40
and in En gland as wel l as in Americait often became “ laylock . Beforethe name l i lac became popular i t wascal led the blew—pipe tree becausethe wood can be hollowed out andserve as the stems for pi pes . Walksbordered on each side by blew-pipeswere very fashi onable when this shrubwas,first introduced into England,butnow they are rather crowded ou t ofthe i r righ tful place . Such a walk i nMay i s al l lovel i ness,and on e feels withthem as with few other shrubs,thatthe first whiff of the i r fragrance i nspringtime unlocks the very heart andsoul of memory. A l i lac—borderedwalk
“
stirred by a l ight wi nd becomesa tossmg sea of bloom,and seen bymoonl ight,an enchanted path .
The l i lac belongs to the same fam i lyas the olive . Medic inal ly it has avalue from the fact that an extractfrom the unri pe seeds is good as a
1 4 1
febrifuge and also as a ton ic . The
wood i tself i s fin e grai ned,and at on etime much used for inlaying. Gerarde
in hi s “Herball says of the l i lac-that itsfrag rance i s too powerful, Troubl ingand molesting the head in a strangemanner with a pon ticke and un
acquai nted savour.The meri t of th is shrub i s attestedby many writers . Walter SavageLan dor, i n h i s Imaginary Conversations, says in condemning Ital iangardens, A s for shrubs,I have rarelyseen a lilac,a laburnum,or a mezereonin an y of them,and yet these flourishbefore almost every cottage i n our
poorest vi l lages . Thi s was about1800 . The Swi ss,Henri Amiel,i n hisjournal writes, I strolled from the
i ri ses to the l i lacs,round the flowerbeds and through the shrubberies .A sweet spot i n wh ich to draw in
spiration .
1 42
was leader of the former,-while thebeautiful Diane de Poictiers was chiefof the wearers of the blue. The two,the most beautiful and prominentlyunscrupulous women of the ir t ime,were loved respect ively by the Kingand Dauph i n . The struggle for su
premacy was bi tter and long. Nota day passed without an expressionof hostility ,on on e s i de or the other .Madame d
’
Etampes was n ine years thejun i or of Diane,but the wit and courage of the latter were more than amatch for the beauty and youth ofMadame d
’Etampes, and i n the end
she triumphed over her rival .But,after all, i t i s i n England that
the l i lac i s best known,or,perhaps,on e should say longest known,savei n V ienna . No festival i n the long
category -
of holi days has called forthmore joyous writing than May
-day.
It was beloved by simple as wel l as
_
l
i
gentle folk ! and“
: from‘
royalty !
.to themeanest hi nd,all took a part i n i tsceremonies and Observances . Indeed,so deeply rooted have these festive influen ces and hol i day customs becomethat they are among the last to y ieldto the more prosaic manners of ourtimes .For centuries on May-day lads and
l‘
asses,with thei r elders as wel l,courtgallants and lad ies gay,went fortha—Maying,ei ther to gather blossomssti ll dripping with dew to hang beforethe door ”of the on e they loved,or tobathe thei r faces in this dew to pre
serve or“
i ncrease thei r fairness . HenryV I I I .,Bluff King Hal,as he was oftencalled,.married at n ineteen Catherineof Aragon,who was twenty-five. The
first years of thei r married lives'
were
happy ones, and they had not lon gbeen wedded when we hear of thei rdanc ing gai ly on May-day about a
1 4 5
flower—decked pole. They were staying then at their palace at Greenwich,and had gone out to meet the Corpo!rat ion of London,who came bri nging?
home May blossoms from the hi lls ofKent. Samuel Pepys,whose diary isa runn i ng record of manners and customs of h is time,says for May 1,1667 :To Westm inster ! i n the way meetingmany mi lkmaids with thei r garlandsupon the ir pai ls,danci ng with a fiddlerbefore them ! and saw pretty Nel lystanding at her lodgings
’ door in DruryLane i n her smock sleeves and bodice,-look ing upon on e
:
she seemed amighty pretty creature.
Pretty Nel ly was Nel l Gwynn,at thatt imean actress at the King
’s Play-house,and a very charming dan cer herself.May-day began at midnight,and it
was at thi s hour the breaking downof branches and boughs began,whichwere afterward decorated with gar
1 46
lands and nosegay s,brought home atsunri se and placed at windows andd00 rs .Shakespeare speaks of the custom in
his play of “Henry and again i nAll
’
sWel l that Ends Wel l . Few vil
l ages are left that keep up this ancientcustom,which has passed with muchthat i s poetical,and y et which wouldappear rather unseemly to twentiethcentury eyes .In different local i t ies different flow
ers were selected as May blossoms !cowslips and primroses were favouritesi n many places,and so were hawthornbranches . In Cornwall and Devon,pixie- ridden counties where so manyquai nt -superst it i ons had a firm sway,the l i lac i s the May flower,and a peenl i ar virtue attaches to i t if gatheredbefore the sun is up and while st i l lwet with dew .
Many uncanny fancies hover about1 47
May and her blossoms. Even in prosaic America there are many personswho lack the courage to be wedded inMay. I t is unlucky,the sayi ng runs,and it needs the spell of June -to re
move the curse,and make the day gomerri ly.
To turn once more to Devon andCornwall,which have as many luckyand unlucky flowers as Japan,hearwhat makes a most unfortunate nose
gay : abranch of blackthorn,a sprigof .hawthorn, a spray of l i lac . Yet
what sa s weet and seemly bouqueti t would appear to eyes less versedin lore. Blackthorn and hawthornwhen bunched together are said toproduce i llness,but l i lac is fatal tolove affairs . Its del icate colour,so becoming to a blooming cheek,- and itssweet perfume beside,will not makei t tolerated by an Engli sh lass as
'
abunch for a buttonhole.
1 48
careabout the fatal n ature of thisshrubin matters of the heart.In many a small hamlet i n the heart
of England,to give to your sweethearta sprig of purple l i lac i s to say youwi sh the engagement broken,whilestout—hearted bachelors who sport aboutonniere of it show that they arenot afraid of femin ine blandishments,and are proof agai nst Cupid ’s arrow. .
The white l i lac, the sweetest andmost refined of all the species of thisshrub,i s cal led less unlucky than. the
mauve,‘ but nei ther should this“
be
made a gift between lovers ! it wil lprove as fatal to love as an opal ring .
What a pity it is that so sweet ablossom should get such an evil reputafion,for the white l i lac must l iveand flouri sh for seven years before
i t will put forth a blossom .
Indeed,there i s a legend as to how
the l i lac came white,which is whis1 50
way,they found the blooms snowywhite,and the sprigs wel l rooted andapparently growing. They grew in tobrave bushes,and in the springtimewere ever a mass of bloom . For loveof her,some of the roots were tran splanted into the gardens of the villagers,and i n thi s way the white lilacspread over England . So they willtel l you i n a l ittle vi llage on the R iverWy e,i n Hertfordshire,and they willshow you the bush sti ll growing onher grave .
In addit ion to the name of blew-pipe,the l i lac is also known,i n some rusticparts of England,as Prince
’s Feather,and by the sti l l homel ier title of duc—ks’
bil ls. In recent years this shrub hasbeen made to bear double blossoms,which give i t an unfamil iar appearance.
Lei gh Hunt says that“ variations
i n flowers are l ike variations in music,often beau tiful as such but almost
1 5 2
always i nferior to the theme on whichthey are founded the original ai r,and the doubl ing of the l i lac mayalmost seem a m istake .
In Hungary there is grown al i lacvery beautiful i n colour and shape,butabsolutely without scent . I t i s cal ledthe Countess Josika
’
s l i lac ! no doubtthere is folk tale connected with itsname.
Valerian, i n ancient herballs,wasoften called German l i lac, and theIndian l i lac or crape myrtle i s a splend id shrub from China,bearing largerosev coloured flowers .There has been duri ng the last few
years arevival of i nterest in the cu l tivat ion and propagation of these gardenbeauties. An i nfinite variety of t i ntshas been produced,shading from whitealmost to black,through endless shadesof blue or rosy purple . They rejoicei n many pretty names,such as Carola,
I
L ilarosa,Marie L egraye,Princess Alexandra,A l i ne Macquery,and a doz enothers,besides such graver ones asLudwig Spaeth,Archduke John,etc.
But it i s not to these favou'
rites offash ion that our affect ions really turn,but to that fami l i ar friend of our youthwhich rejoi ced only i n the name l i lac,or even laylock if spoken by on eof our e lders. It was of that Hawthorne wrote so charmi ngly sixty ormore years ago in hi s Mosses froman Old Manse.
”
He has called the particular essayBuds and Bird Voices, and draws adel ightful pi cture of the grey,barehouse Which was old even in his day,and which does not seem much moreancient now,after on e hundred andthi rty-seven years of service.
This is what he says : The l i lacshrubs under my study-windows arel i kewise almost i n leaf ! i n two or
three days more l may put forth myhand and pluck the topmost bough ini ts freshest green . These l i lacs arevery aged,and have lost the luxuriantfol iage of the i r prime . The heart,or the j udgment,or the moral sense,or the taste i s d i ssati sfied with thei rpresent aspect . Old age i s not venerable when it embodies itself i n l i lacs,rose-bushes,or any other ornamentalsh rub ! i t seems as if such plants,asthey grow only for beauty,ought toflourish always i n immortal youth,orat least to die before thei r sad decrepitude. Trees of beauty are trees ofP aradise and,therefore,not subject todecay by thei r original nature,thoughthey have lost that prec i ous birthrightby be i ng transplanted to an earthlyso i l . There i s a k i nd of lud icrousu n fitn ess i n the i dea of a time-strickenand grandfatherly l i lac-bush . Thereare sti l l l i lac-bushes growin g and blos
I 5 S
somin g about the old house, l inealdescendants,no doubt,of the grandfatherly on e of which Hawthornespeaks,for they are ri ch i n bloom. andheavy with sweetness i n blossom—time.
The bluish-green ti nt of the fol iage,with that grey bloom of mi ldew whichis so apt to form on the leaves,is anote of colour in the bri ll i ant green—
‘
of
summer,held by no other shrub . Asfar away as you can di stinguish shadeyou wi ll recognise the fami li ar toneand welcome an old friend . Onceagai n from n ew planti ngs the l i lacwaves its pri nce
’
s feather in the fertilesoi l of Long Island, as it di d somecenturies ago,when not a good shipcame i nto port without its quota ofroots, trees,shrubbes andfor the house mother to tend andnurse i nto blooming beauty,or for
u se i n the ki tchen garden or orchard,or i n the cool,sti l l room .
I S6
Dinner is ready I ’ the spring wind criedAnd from hive and hiding far and Wide,While the l i lac laughed to see them come,The l itt le gray-jacketed bees come hum-m 1
They S ipped the sirup from every cel lThey nibbled at taffy and caramel ,Then,W ithout being asked,they all buz z ed?”‘We
Wi ll b e very happy to stay to tea I
The l i lac does not lose i ts beautywith the fadi ng of its flower and leaf.In winter i ts branches stand out insturdy fashion agai nst a cold sky,showing plain ly the next year
’
s budscarefullyw rapped up against the cold.
To me the l i lac is on e of the suresti ndicators of the approach of spring,for the on e beneath my window showsa pale an d del icate shade of greenalmost as early as the larch To thatherald I look for signs of colour latei n February.
There i s a sayi ng in some partsof the country that if the l i lac andhorse-chestnut buds are wel l set, i t
I
ban dwel ler whomay enjoy the pleasures of l i lac-t ide, for in the publicparks i n almost every city of theUnion are growing quantities of thesebushes . I n Central Park,N ew
'York,for many a year,May fifteenth hasseen the l i lacs in bloom,or at leastshowmg tips of pale lavender amidthe tender and i ncomparable green !which is the colour of i ts fol iagei nearly spring. While the bluebird
'
is
the sweetest minstrel of those firstdays when Winter l i ngers in the lapof Spring, the l i lac i s torchbearerto Summer,as she waits for Springto gl ide away,before fl i nging fromher . apron her treasures, summerroses, summer songs, and summershowers .
1 60
CHRYSANTHEMUMS.
THE GO LDEN BADG E O F
COURAG E .
HAD wandered far through manylands ! had l istened to the tinkl ing music of the samisen and
the voices of women singing. I hadcl imbed high mountains,seen strangegods in the temples ! had rested
’neathflowery trees in the heat of the longsummer days,and had scattered moneywith a free hand .
Sudden ly, i n a far country,mythough ts turned to home,to my wife,to my children so long unseen,to mygarden blossomi ng and fair . I set myface toward home ! I travel led long.
Soon now shall I see my beloved .
Lightly,l ightly,speeds my boat along,my garments flutter ing to the gentlebreeze . The rice—fields are growing
1 63
brown,for wi nter i s not far off Fromafar I descry my old home and joyfully press onward in my haste.
Alas l as I come nearer I see theruin t ime has wrought in my home !seemy faithful servants,grown old an dgrey,rush forth to meet me ! my chi ldren, lean and ragged,cluster at thegate. Sad though all th ings look,therei s the old pine tree and my Chry san themums laden with blossoms of gold .
”
Thus wrote T’
ao Yuan-Ming,whol ived from 365 to 427 and becameon e of the most learned and noted ofal l the Chinese writers.From China the Chry santhemum
was introduced i nto Japan,and thenceall over the world,but on e will looki n vain i n old Herballs, for themunder thi s name. The first of theseflowers to bloom in European gardens,over two hundred years ago, werecal led by the long name of Matrz
‘
carz’
a
1 64,
the same fami ly as the modest daisyand the humble feverfew ? Yet i tdoes,and began life by having a greatgolden eye,and a si ngle rim of petalsaround the edge . By the persi stence ofman the minute golden flowers in thecentre have been endowed with corollasl i ke those on the outer edge,and thepresent Chrysanthemum no longer recog n ises her humble extraction ! she isl ike a proud sister i n s i lks and feathers,who overlooks poor Cinderel la sittingwith her feet i n the ashes .The botan ical name of our common
field daisy,or whiteweed,i s Chry santhamaw L eucan tbemum,but its homelyor common name changes its formwith the local i ty i n which it is found,and may be daysie, day sy,day sey,day sey e,or even daiesey ghe.
Chaucer speaks of it,
The day sey e or elles the ey e of day,The emperice and flour of floures alle.
”
1 66
connected with this lowly flower. A
horse that in trotting l ifts i ts feet butsl i ghtly from the ground is known asa “daisy-cutter,
”and the modern user
of the phrase points with pride to theeminent authority he quotes.In Rob Roy you will find this
horse-law duly set down : The troti s the true pace for the hackney ! andwere we near a town,I should l ike totry that daisy- cutter of yours upon alevel piece of road .
In America the variety of localnames bestowed upon the daisy isabsolutely bewilderi ng. Oxeye we
all are fami liar with,but there i s alsobull’s- ey e and dog
’
s-ey e, summermoon and horse-daisy,goldeneye,andi n some places where i t i s too abundantfor the wishes of the farmer,devil
’
sey e .
I n al l countries young maids,andthei r swains as wel l,have told their
1 68
fortunes by means of thi s simpleflower,the French demoisel le as wel las her cousin across the Rhine havin gthei r own particular rhymesL owel l
’s pretty l ines, With a
Pressed Flower, tel l the story.
This little blossom from afarHath come from other hands to thine
For,once,its white and drooping starCould see its shadow in the Rhine.
Perchance some fair-haired German maidHath plucked on e from the selfsame stalk.And numbered over,half afra id,Its petals in her evening walk .
He 10ves me,loves me not,’ she cries !He loves me more than earth or heaven I ’
And then g lad tears have fi lled her eyesTo fwd the number was uneven .
And thou must count its petals wel l,Because it is a g ift from me !
And the last on e of all shall tel lSomething I ’ve often told to thee.
But here at home,where we were born,Thou wilt find blossoms just as true,
Down-bending every summer mornWith freshness of N ew England dew .
For N ature,ever kind to love,Hath granted them the same sweet ton g ue,Whether with German skies above,Or here our granite rocks among .
1 69
I ts relat ive,the feverfew,i s botanically Cbry san tbemum Partbem
’
um,and was origi nally a European specieswhi ch has become natural ised in thiscountry. I ts first use was for medicinalpurposes,and i t made a terribly bittertea,which was l iberally bestowed uponpersons suffering from fevers .The camomile,which looks muchl ike small dai sies,i s another of theseplants,which,travel l ing from Europeby devious ways,has become a settledresident here,as wel l as in Asia,Africa,and Austral i a.I t i s the garden camomile which
furni shes the aromatic flowers thatwere so frequently used for a bloodpurifier and tonic,i n those days whenour grandmothers devoted a portionof each garden patch for medicinesand simples .I t was as a valuable adjunct to the
medicine garden that the Chry san the1 70
mum flowers first were brought out ofthe Orient,and i t was not ti l l attentionhad been attracted to thei r rare anddecorative beauty that the plant wasrechri stened and grown for ornament.A Chinese writer cal ls i t “ the flower ofreti rement and culture . After commerce with China had been firmly established,many seeds and cutti ngs werebrought from there by merchant sai lorsfor the i r women folk at home,muchas bulbs had been carried from Holland France first took great pai ns i nrai s i ng seedl ings and growing flowerswith i ncurved petals what i s cal ledn ow the Chinese type of flower. Forgreater populari ty,however,we mustlook to the Japanese varieties, soodd and bi zarre i n shape,some raggedwith petals curved and twisted inevery di rect ion, and some with buttwo rows of petals fri nging the goldeney e.
1 7 1
Second only to the rose i n theamount which has been written aboutit, the Chrysanthemum is a flowertowonder at and admire,but not tolove. Ameri can flori sts,never wearyof assisti ng Nature,are trying to impartfragrance to thi s flower,which wouldstill more i ncrease i ts popularity The
market reports for last year show-thatmore than five hundred thousand dollars
’
worth were sold.
In the East the Chrysanthemum is anational emblem,receiv ing almost reveren tial care andattention . Each year,i n November,i n the large cities i n Japanthousands of plants are sold . Manyof them have but a single stalk,withan immense flower ten or twelve i nchesacross,on its top. The Kiku—no-sakku
or Chry santhemum Show,held i n the
ci ty of Tokyo,i s of the greatest beauty,and there are features of it quite pe
culiar to Japan . Besi des the wonder1 72
carefully packed in moss. The flowersand leaves are then woven i nto thedesi red shape by dexterous fingers,the floral pictures kept in the shadeand abundantly watered,and the plantsgo on growing happi ly,far differentlyfrom our flowers at exh ibit ions,whichare sn ipped off so that they wither anddie i n a few hours.During the festivals the flower mar
kets are open in the even ing,and atthat t ime the majority of the buyersare the working people,who have nocostly vases at home,but who do notlack a bit of bamboo-cane i n which toplace a twig or flower and contemplate i ts beauty .
The arrangement of flowers inJapan is not haphazard or left tochance, but everyth ing about it i sarranged by laws. There are certai nflowers which are used for fete daysonly ! certai n others which are abso
1 74
The iris blues the land in JuneWhen suz umuchis are in tune.
In each pondlet lotus blows,Filling pools with fragrant snows .
November skies are dull and grey.
’T is then the Kiku holds her sway.
Perfect,golden,pink or rose,A lmost every shade that grows,
May be gathered in JapanFlowery land of Kiku-San .
The place which a bouquet shouldoccupy i n a room is also important,and i t i s usually put before the [cakemono, or pai nting which ornamentsevery wel l- furn ished room in a Japanese house . There should always beharmony between the picture and thebouquet . Thus,before every paintingby the famous artist To-em—mei,wholoved Chrysanthemums, should be
placed a vase of these flowers . Nei theri s i t good taste to stand too neara vase of flowers Three feet is arespectful di stance from which to admire it. Approbation should be ex
pressed in a low voice,simply and1 76
quietly,the colour of the flowers be i ngfirst touched upon,and different expressions bei ng suited to different tints .We do not usually regard Japan as a
country of v iv id colouring,y et duringthe en d of September the tender greenof the rice-fields changes i nto brown,the jay fl ies shrieking through the
woods and among the old p ines,andthe mountai n forests clothe themselvesi n colours wh ich are even more bri ll i antthan the l ivery of scarlet and gold ofour forest trees. At th is season comesthe Min t i n al l i ts glory.
England had her Wars of theRoses,
” which were waged on ly between rival houses, whereas Japanhas had her “Wars of the Chry santhemums
” between rival dynast ies .These wars lasted lon ger and weremore b itterly contested than those i nBri tai n ! for fifty - six years,from 1 336
to 1 392,when the members of theI 77
Southern Dynasty became the trueMikados, the Northern Dynasty, or“false Mikados,were at war withthem . The latter finally becameexti nct .On e may see readi ly why the im
perial emblem of Japan is a chry santhemum. It i s a white on e,of sixteenpetals on a crimson ground,and it i smuch i n evidence on that Novemberday when the gates of the AkasakaPalace are thrown Open and the
people i nvited in to see the beautifulshow of kr
’
ka flowers .We have a saying which runs,Every dog has his day. TheOriental way of expressi ng the same idea isfar more flowery and no less expressive.
They put it thUS ' I n the secondmonth the peach tree blooms,but notti ll the ninth the Chrysanthemum . Soeach must wait ti l l his own turncomes.
1 78
There i s but on e spot, as far aslegends tel l us,w here i t is not deemedlucky to cultivate chrysanthemums,and that i s the pretty l i ttle c i ty cal ledH imej i,i n the province of Harima . Inthecity ofHimej i are the rui ns of acastlewith th i rty turrets,which belonged to arich nobleman . In the grounds of thecastlewas the house of on e of the nobleman
’
s retainers,who had a servi ng maidnamed O - kiku,the word kr
'
ka meani ng Chrysanthemum flower Her dutywas to take care of the many preciousth i ngs i n the house, rare bronzes,images of beaten brass set with jewels,the household shri nes,and all that wascostly and fin e . Among the manybeautiful th i ngs were ten splendidd ishes of gold which it was her dutyto keep bright. O n e of these disheswas suddenly missed . Even after longsearch it could not be found,and thegirl,knowing she would be held re
I 79
sponsible,and finding it impossible toprove her i nnocence,drowned herselfi n a wel l . From this t ime forth herghost returned nightly and could beheard counting the dishes slowly,with sobs,beginn ing on e — two
three,and so on up to nine. Thenwould come a cry of agony,a loudburst of weeping,and agai n the girl
’svoi ce counting on e — two, unti ln i ne was reached again . This she didevery night unti l dawn came,and so,on account of poor O-kiku ’s fate,noon e plants her name-flower in H imej i .Not alone i n the land of its birth is
the chrysanthemum admired and ex
tolled . Nowhere is i t grown moresuccessfully than in London, greatc i ty of smoke and gloom as it is .Should you chance to stroll into theTemple Gardens i n November,youmight almost fancy yourself transported across seas to Japan itself.
1 80
always to be found in it a floral carmade of superb chrysanthemums,which is always greeted with murmursof approbation as it passes along.
Perhaps the most endearing qualityof the chrysanthemum is its will in gness to grow. It does not demandcountry air and sunsh ine, but willblossom with almost equal beauty inthe city,provided a modicum of carei s bestowed upon it and soi l suitableto i ts taste be furnished it.In rural England the button or
pompon chrysanthemum is a greatfavourite,and has many pet namesattached to i t. In Somerset grows asmall variety of this flower,commonlycalled winter daisy,while some oflarger si ze, which bloom late, are
known as winter roses .The yel low corn-marigold,which isnative to England,i s called botanicallyCbwsan tbemum segetum,and grows
1 82
the cottage warm and shoes on all thefeet . The n ight before Chri stmas themeal was hardly any better than onany other n ight, and it was scantyenough, y et each chi ld gave to thel i ttle guest a part of i ts own portion,and was pleased to see him eat i t withsati sfaction . When the meal wasended the Christ Chi ld rose,his poorgarments became white, and a haloglowed about h is head .
With a sweet and lovi ng smi lehe thanked them all, then vanishedl ike a vision . The chi ldren cried,
“ Itwas the holy Christ Chi ld, and peaceand contentment were over that cottage all the night. The next morning,Christmas Day, when they openedthe door they found blossoming besi de the doorstone beautiful whiteflowers with dark-green leaves. The
father plucked some and carried themwithi n doors,where they were fai th
1 84
fully tended,and these flowers whi chgrew upon the spot where the holyChi ld stood are the snow-white chrysan themums we know so well .The name chrysanthemumwil l have
to be changed agai n,s ince other coloursthan yel low have grown to be popular .I ndeed,i n England red and pi nk aremore highly esteemed than the gold .
The quest i on, What’
s i n a name ?could never be appl ied to th is flower,for the whole world seems to havebeen ransacked for fanciful ti tles ford ifferent variet ies .There i s the Fair Maid of Guern
sey, Canary Bird,Eborn ella,Elai ne,Good Gracious (an American variety ),Georges Sand, Black Hawk,MutualFriend, Oriental Glory, L e GrandDragon,Queen A lexandra,Rosy Morn,Market P i nk,Godfrey
’s Pet, and athousand more. These names wouldhave pleased Ruskin,who invented
1 85
names to suit himself, and alwaysfancied some term that indicated thecolour.The old- fashioned name which was
bestowed on those first chry san themums which bloomed in Americangardens (about 1 820 ) was Artemesia,dedicated to the Greek Diana,Artemisa very pretty name for the pale and
rather dull lavender blooms whi chcame out courageously late i n the
year,when most other flowers had succumbed to the n ippin gs of the frost .Si tti ng before a cheerful fire i n on e
of those fin e old houses which dignifymany a vi llage street i n N ew England,the talk turned upon the generally inappropriate way in which floral nameswere bestowed upon girls. Li ly isborne by many a bri ll i ant brunette,and Violet by on e whose last thoughtis of shri nking,and so on through thewhole l i st.
1 86
A t last the eldest of the group spoke,and i n a musi ng tone,as if i ndeed shelooked back over the years which hadlong s i nce fled,told th i s tale :
“ I never knew, said she, but on eperson who bore the name of a flowerto whom it seemed a part of herself.I was but a young girl myself when Ifirst came to know Miss A rtemesia,who lived in that great white housewi th Cori nth ian columns that standson the farther side of the street.
She was an only chi ld,and as shecame late i n the married l ife of herparents,they named her for the n ew
flower which had but recently bloomedin the garden,and which, bloom inglate i n the year, reminded them ofthe i r l i tt le daughter.
The l i ttle Artemesia grew andflouri shed,playing around the statelygarden on sunny days, and thoughshe escaped many of ch i ldhood
’s i l ls,1 87
she had but a frai l pretti ness,not unl ike her namesake flower. The yearspassed slowly,unfretted by the hurryand bustle which affects those i n theouter world,and first her mother,andthen her father,fel l asleep, -one canhardly call such peaceful ends dying,and Artemesiafou n dherself quite alone.
“ ’
Twas now I knew her first, adainty l i ttle lady,somewhat prim inall her ways,and whether consciouslyor not,growing each year more andmore l ike the artemesias which grewso plentifully in her garden,thei r palecolourings repeated in her gowns ofmauve or grey,with the del i cate laceswh ich she always wore,and which werenot unlike the rime of hoar—frost whichoften lay on the garden blossoms .Perhaps you do not remember
your uncle,certain ly not as he waswhen we first came here to l ive.
Handsome,vivid,full of l ife and mer1 88
riment,hi s whole nature was in di rectcontrast to the shaded grey of thel ittle lady of the garden .
He went there,y es,as he wenteverywhere else i n the vi llage, andno on e guessed her secret,least of al lHarry h imself.Then came that di reful day when
Sumter was fired on,and your UncleHarry was on e of the first to leave thetown . We l i ttle dreamed that he,thei ncarnat ion of l ife and vigour,wouldnever come back . Sti l l less d id wedream that to Miss Artemesia hisdeparture had meant so much .
We had seen her,those dreadfuldays,going about as usual,and boundup i n our own cares,hardly noted hergradual fadi ng away.
At last on e day she sent for meto b id me good~bye, she sai d, andwhen the truth came home to me,i twas she who dried my tears .
1 89
Dear si ster,’ said she, do not
weep for me,for truly I am like myown flower. Born late,I loved late,but rejoice with me that I do notl i nger late.
’
Her prophecy was too true,for she,too, l ike her father and mother,fellsoftly asleep,and I gathered the lastartemesias i n the garden to lay uponher grave .
Oh,mother, cried an eager youngvoice, is that why you always willhave those dul l artemesias growing inthe garden ?
”
Yes, dear,and I h0pe now youwill have a l ittle more patience withthem,for the sake of Miss A rtemesia.
We are apt to associate th is flowerwith cold, dull weather,flying leaves,and bare branches, yet i t i s also anative of Africa, where there are
many legends connected with it,particularly with the plant which bears
1 90
small wh ite blossoms . O n e of theseconcerns a Moorish maiden, ! ara,whose lover was a warrior,ch ief of awanderi ng tribe. On on e of h is absen ces she dreamed that she saw himlyi ng dead i n the desert,with a spearthrough hi s heart .The figures i n the dream seemed so
V ivid that she sprang from her couchwith a scream, and l i sten ing, heardthe sound of a horse
’
s hoofs beneathher window. In a moment she hadrun to the casement and thrown i topen,hopi ng to find her dream u n
true ! but it was upon no l iv ing horseand ri der that her terrified eyes rested,for so shadowy and evanescent werethey that the moonl ight shone di rectlythrough them . She called her lover’sname several t imes, each time withless courage,and then as the ghostlyfigure turned,reveal i ng the spear i nhi s heart,she fai nted and fel l from her
1 9 1
window upon a bank of red chrysanthemums which grew beneath i t. Theflowers paled slowly from red to whitewith grief at seei ng her die,and sothey remain to this day. When crushedthey exhale a faint, sweet odour,anemblem of the love that never dies.Few of our poets have had the
courage to extol th is flower in verse !no doubt i ts name of many syllableshas daunted them .
In the old annuals,or Friendship’s
Offerings,” which were so h ighly es
teemed by our grandmothers,on e willalways find a sect ion of the bookdevoted to the explanation of thelanguage of flowers . The sentimentbestowed upon our golden flower ison e of the prettiest that may be foundit reads, Courage under adversity .
1 92
UIIBRIDGE FREE PUBLICLIBRARY.
L I B R ARY n oun s2 to 8 P . M . Sat u rdaysc l os i n g at 9 P . M .
N ot ope n S u n days an d H o l idays .
1 . A n y re s ide n t of Uxbridg e,who s ig n s th eappl ication an d agreeme n t,may borrow book s fromt h e l ibrary . A nyon e un de r e i g h tee n ye ars of ag emus t fu rn is h t h e re fe re n ce of pare n t or g uardian .
A temporary re s i de n t may borrow a book u pon depos it of on e dollar wh i c h wi l l b e re fu nded u porith e re t u rn of th e book .
2 . Th is book i s du e on th e date las t s tamped onth e date s li p . I f not in deman d it may b e re newedby appli cat ion at th e de l i ve ry de sk,by mail,or bytele phon e . I f ke pt ove rt im e a fi n e of two ce n ts aday will b e charg ed,an d for books damaged orlos t th e actual loss s us tai ne d . B ooks are n ot de
l ive red to borrowe rs Wh os e fi ne s are un paid .
3 . Each bor rowe r is e n titled to two books,on eof wh i c h is e xpected to b e n on -fiction .
4 . I f you chan g e you r re s i den ce, n ot i fy th el ibr ar ian .