The Primrose.....When Time's dark Winter shall be o'er, Like me you'll rise, a flagrant flower, The Garden.......The bower of innocence and bliss Sin caus'd to disappear; Repent, and walk in faith and love- BP. HORNE. The Heliotrope or sun-flower, Helianthus annuus, a native of Mexico, is said to trace with its radiant corolla the march of the sun, an idea maintained by many writers. Moore, in his Irish Melodies, says, As the Sun-flower turns to her god when he sets, Thomson, in his Seasons, and Langhorne in his Fables of Flora, entertain the same popular notion: and Sir J. E. Smith states, "Its stem is compressed in some degree, to facilitate the movement of the flower which after following the sun all day, returns after sun-set to the East, by its natural elasticity, to meet his beams in the morning,"-Introd. to Botany, p. 209. But the slightest observation of this plant will show, that it does not possess this wonderful property. Gerard detected the error even so long ago as 1597.-Herbal, p. 614. See Drummond's Steps to Botany, chap. 6. TO THE PASSION-FLOWER. IF Superstition's baneful art First gave thy mystic name, That name at first conferr'd, Though lightly Truth her flights may prize, By wild vagary driven, For once their blameless exercise May surely be forgiven. We roam the seas-give new-found isles Some king or conqueror's name : We rear on earth triumphal piles, We e soar to heaven-and to outlive Unto the glorious stars we give Then may not one poor flow'ret's bloom God dwelleth not in temples rear'd And may not e'en a simple flower Then freely let thy blossom ope Its beauties-to recall A scene, which bids the humble hope In HIM who died for all! B. BARTON. The Passion-flower, Passiflora cærulea, a native of the Brazils, was introduced into this country in 1699, and was called Flos Passionis, till altered by Linnæus. Its name was derived from the fancied resemblance of the different parts of the flower and plant to the instruments of Christ's suffering. The five stamens were compared to his five wounds;-the three styles to the nails, by which he was fixed to the cross;-the column, which elevates the germen, to the cross itself;-the rays of the nectary to the crown of thorns,-and the petals to the ten Apostles, Judas and Peter being rejected. ? OH! how could Fancy crown with thee, Thy home, wild plant, is where each sound Where songs' full notes once peal'd around, But now are heard no more. The Roman, on his battle-plains, Where kings before his eagles bent, Yet there, though fresh in glossy green, Where sleep the sons of ages flown, The bards and heroes of the past, Where, through the halls of glory gone, Where years are hastening to efface Wreath of the tomb! art there. Thou o'er the shrines of fallen gods, And cities of the dead; Arches of triumph, long o'erthrown,- Oh! many a temple, once sublime, Save thy wild tapestry ; And, rear'd 'midst crags and clouds, 'tis thine High from the fields of air look down Unchang'd, the mountain-storm can brave,— The breathing forms of Parian stone, That rise round grandeur's marble halls,— The vivid hues, by painting thrown, Rich o'er the glowing walls ; Th' Acanthus, on Corinthian fanes, 'Tis still the same-where'er we tread, Left to decay and thee! And still let man his fabrics rear, August in beauty, grace, and strength, Days pass-Thou, Ivy, never sere, And all is thine at length ! MRS. HEMANS. THE GRASSHOPPER. HAPPY creature! what below Can more happy live than thou? What of man can boast the same? Thine the lavish'd voice of praise, Harbinger of fruitful days; Phoebus is thy sire divine; |