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                                                        8. 
                                 EGOTISM           AND SELF-LOVE. 
        Narcissus tereticaulis.                                     The snow
flake-leaved Narcissus. 
               Natural Order.                                           
        Class and Order. 
            AMARYLLIDEAE.                                               HEXANDRIA
MONOGYNIA. 
FROM the fabulous transformation of the youth Narcissus into this flower,
have originated the name and 
the emblem. Narcissus Tereticaulis is a native of ]France, and is annually
imported from Holland with 
other bulbs by the name Surpassant, and ranks in the genus at the head of
the section Rotulares, on 
account of its roundish stem and green leaves. 
                                     What first inspired a bard of old to
sing 
                                     Narcissus pining o'er the untainted
spring ? 
                                     In some delicious ramble he had found
                                     A little space, with boughs all woven
round; 
                                     And in the midst thereof a clearer pool
                                     Than e'er reflected in its pleasant
cool, 
                                     The blue sky here and there serenely
peeping 
                                     Through tendril wreaths fantastically
creeping, 
                                     And on the bank a lonely flower he spied,
                                     A meek and forlorn flower with naught
of pride, 
                                     Drooping its beauty o'er the watery
clearness, 
                                     To woo its own sad image into nearness.
                                     Deaf to light Zephyrus, it would not
move; 
                                     But still would seem to droop, to pine,
to love. 
                                     So, while the poet stood in this sweet
spot, 
                                     Some fainter gleanings o'er his fancy
shot 
                                     Nor was it long ere he had told the
tale 
                                     Of young Narcissus, and sad Echo's vale."
                                                                       KEATS.
     The cup in the centre of the flower is supposed to contain the tears
of Narcissus, to which Milton 
alludes in the following lines :- 
                            ' Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, 
                              And daffodillies fill their cups with tears
                              To strew the laureat hearse where Lycki 
The Naiades, as the poets relate, lamenting the death of ]I 
                            " When, looking for his corse, they only
                              A rising stalk with yellow blossoms cro,