The Lilies.
Are we justified in classing these among our summer flowers? Well, the lily of the valley may, perhaps, be more justly claimed by Spring, as it generally unveils its beauty in the month of May; but the water-lily belongs to Summer; and, at all events, it will be most convenient to speak of them in this category.
The lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis),—the May-lily of old writers,—has long been a favourite type of retiring modesty and tender loveliness. It affects the silence and solitude of the woodlands, where, in the shadow of broad leaves and sweeping branches, the inquiring botanist discovers—
"Like detected light,
Its little green-tipt lamps of white."
Shakspeare, who neglected nothing, refers to its gentle humility of attitude:—
"Shipwrecked upon a kingdom where no pity,
No friends, no hope, no kindred weep for me;
Almost no grave allowed me! like the lily