Rhododendron nudiflorum, Torrey.

The Swamp Pink.

What splendid masses of pink, with a few glaucous green leaves sprinkled here and there—just enough for contrast.”

-H. D. THOREAU.

THE JULY PAGEANT.

Morn in the white wake of the morning star
Came furrowing all the orient into gold.

It was the deep midnoon :

And at their feet the crocus brake like fire,
Violet, amaracus and asphodel,

Lotos and lilies.

The charmed sunset lingered low adown
In the red West.

-TENNYSON.

The clouds, like stately argosies, move slowly across the summer sky, and the cloud-shadows darken the green hillsides and the deep meadows, where the tall grasses are bending in long waves under the gentle breeze. Swallows, on unwearied wing, are floating in wide circles in the upper regions of the air or are skimming the flashing surface of the pool in the intricate mazes of their flight. A flock of redwing-blackbirds,