Page:The Romance of Nature; or, The Flower-Seasons Illustrated.djvu/109

51 The locked buttons on the gemmed trees

O'erspreadandO'erspread and [sic] leaves of nature's tapestries;

Soft grassy verdure, after balmy showers,

On curland stalkis smiland to their flowers.

BeholdandBehold and [sic] them so many divers hue,

Some pers, some pale, some burnet , and some blue,

Some grey, some gules, some purpure, some sanguene,

Blanchet or brown, fauch-yellow many ane.

Some heavenly coloured, in celestial gré ,

Some watry-hued, as the haw-waly sea;

And some depaint in freckles red and white,

Some bright as gold, with aureate leavis lite :

The daisie did unbraid her crownal smale,

And every flower un-lapped in the dale.

The flower-de-luce forth spread his heavenly hue,

Flower-damas, and columbo black and blue.

Sere downis smale on dandelion sprung,

The young green bloomed strawberry leaves among:

Gimp gilliflowers their own leaves un-shet ;

Fresh primrose, and the purpure violet.

The rose-knobbis tetand forth their head,

Gan chip, and kyth their vernal lippis red;

Crisp scarlet leaves sheddand, baith at anes,

Cast fragrant smell amid from golden grains.

Heavenly lilies, with lockerand toppis white

Opened, and shew their crestis redemite

The expression "lockerand toppis," in speaking of the lilies, is very quaintly appropriate, as so many of that class of flowers have the petals, when fully expanded, turning back in a perfect curl, like the red tiger lily.

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