Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

UNDER GEORGE II 135
Andpolyanthusofunnumbered dyes,
The yellow wallflower,stained withiron brown,
And lavish stock that scents the gardenround;
From the soft wing of vernalbreezes shed,
Anemones; auriculas, enriched
With shining mealo'er all their velvet leaves;
And full ranunculus of glowingred.
Then comes thetulip race, wherebeautyplays
Her idlefreaks: from family diffused,
l'o family,as flies the father-dust,
The varied colours run; and, while they break
On the charmed eye, the exulting florist marks
With secret pride the wondersof his hand.
No gradual bloom is wanting from the bud
First-bornof Spring to Summer'smusky tribes;
Nor hyacinths,of purest virgin white,
Low-bent,andblushing inward; nor jonquils
Of potent fragrance; nor narcissus fair,
As o'er the fabledfountain hangingstill;
Norbroad carnations;nor gay-spottedpinks;
Nor, showeredfrom every bush, the damask rose
Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells,
With hues on hues expression cannot paint,
The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom! "
The next change was effected by Queen Caroline,
wife of George II. Before the year 1736 much of
the elaboration of the great parterre had been taken
away, grass had been substituted for the minute
flower-beds, the smaller fountains had been banished;
and "landscape gardening," in the hands of
Kent, attempted to destroy the work of Le Notre
and his pupils.
But no violent change was made. The details of
the original plans were altered, but the great semi-