several emblems conferred upon it, each of which is
equally apposite. Thus in reference to the bright hopeful season of
spring, in which it blossoms, it has been regarded as symbolical of the
return of happiness, whilst its delicate perfume has long been
indicative of sweetness, a characteristic thus beautifully described
by Keats:--

"No flower amid the garden fairer grows
Than the sweet lily of the lowly vale,
The queen of flowers."

Its perfect snow-white flower is the emblem of purity, allusions to
which we find numerously scattered in the literature of the past. One of
the emblems of the white poplar in floral language is time, because its
leaves appear always in motion, and "being of a dead blackish-green
above, and white below," writes Mr. Ingram, "they were deemed by the
ancients to indicate the alternation of night and day." Again, the
plane-tree has been from early times made the symbol of genius and
magnificence; for in olden times philosophers taught beneath its
branches, which acquired for it a reputation as one of the seats of
learning. From its beauty and size it obtained a figurative meaning; and
the arbutus or strawberry-tree (_Arbutus unedo_) is the symbol of
inseparable love, and the narcissus denotes self-love, from the story of
Narcissus, who, enamoured of his own beauty, became spell-bound to the
spot, where he pined to death. Shelley describes it as one of the
flowers growing with the sensitive plant in that garden where:--

"The pied wind flowers and the tulip tall,
And narcissi, the fairest among them all,
Who gaze on their eyes in the stream's recess,
Till they die at their own dear loveliness."

The sycamore implies curiosity, from Zacchaeus, who climbed up into this
tree to witness the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem; and from
time immemorial the violet has been the emblem of constancy:--

"Violet is for faithfulness,
Which in me shall abide,
Hoping likewise that from your heart
You will not let it hide."

In some cases flowers seem to have derived their symbolism from certain
events associated with them. Thus the periwinkle signifies "early
recollections, or pleasures of memory," in connection with which
Rousseau tells us how, as Madame Warens and himself were proceeding to
Charmattes, she was struck by the appearance of some of these blue
flowers in the hedge, and exclaimed, "Here is the periwinkle still
in flower."

Thirty years afterwards the sig