Page:The Romance of Nature; or, The Flower-Seasons Illustrated.djvu/190

108 FEUDS AMONG THE HEATHER.

, when these my flowers entwined were,

I heard a tone,

Like young leaves rustling in the Summer air,

When every one

Whispers forth gentle music:—and I bent

To catch the sound

(If sound that shadow of a voice might be),

Which, murmuring round,

Seemed as though one discoursed displeasedly,

And then another

Answered in softer and more even speech;

It was the Heather—

And this the converse that mine ear did reach.

GREENHOUSE HEATHS.

Gems of the sheltered bower are we;

What know we of wilding flowers like thee?

Thy rugged stem, hung with purple bells,

The tale of thy lowly lineage tells;