If hopes and fervent wishes could

Controul futurity's dark veil,

There's not a plant or flower but should
Have virtues such as you'd reveal.

You should, like roses, charm the view;
Like mignonette, should glad the heart;
Your friends should be like ivy, true,
And everlasting where thou art.

As the bright flower, which fables say
Turns on its stem, the sun to greet,
Should you, where'er your path might stray,
Continued joy and sunshine meet.

But should misfortune dim your road,
May you be like that lovely flower,
Which, pressed beneath an adverse load,
Breathes secret sweets of balmy power.

And as through sunshine you may go,
Or bow beneath affliction's night,
May He who bids the lily grow,
Direct and guide your course aright.

R. PATTERSON.

SPRING AND SUMMER FLOWERS.

WHEN every leaf is brightly green,

When every stem hath sweetest flowers, And brilliant hues bedeck the scene, Throughout the joyous summer hours;

When sweetest perfumes scent the air,
When the bright sky hath deepest blue,
When fairest scenes seem doubly fair,
And all is cloudless to our view;

Say, with what feelings do we gaze
Upon the garden's gaudy flowers,
The Rose's tint, the Tulip's blaze,
The sweet Carnation's spicy powers!

Their beauty greeteth every eye,

Their perfume floats on every breeze,
Yielding rich incense to the sky,—
Our love abideth not with these.

But when the Snowdrop's fragile head,
First timidly attracts our view,
Ere winter's sternest hour hath fled,
Like friendship to affliction true;

And when the breath of early spring
Gives to the modest Primrose birth,
And tempts the Violet to bring

Her beauty from the sheltering earth;

It is with exquisite delight

We hail these unassuming flowers, More dearly precious in our sight,

Than all that deck our summer bowers.

They are the prized, the cherished few,
Types of our best affections here;
Our path they beautifully strew,

And first perchance in gloom appear.

M.

I find and I gather in country or town;

But one is still wanting,

Oh! where is it haunting?

The bud and the jewel must make up my crown.

The Rose with its bright heads,
The diamond that light sheds,

Rich as the sunbeam and pure as the snow;
One gives me its fragrance,

The other its radiance;

But the pearl and the lily where dwell they below?

'Tis years since I knew thee,

But yet should I view thee

With the eye and the heart of my earliest youth; And feel thy meek beauty,

Add impulse to duty,

The love of the fancy to old ties of truth.

Thou pearl of the deep sea,

That flows in my heart free,

Thou rock-planted lily come hither or send; 'Mid flowers of the fairest,

And gems of the rarest,

I miss thee, I seek thee, my own parted friend!

M. J. JEWSBURY.

LA BRANCHE D'AMANDIER.

De l'amandier tige fleurie,

Symbole, hélas! de la beauté,
Comme toi, la fleur de la vie,

Fleurit et tombe avant l'été.

Qu'on la néglige ou qu'on la cueille,
De nos fronts, des mains de l'amour,
Elle s'échappe feuille à feuille,
Comme nos plaisirs jour à jour.

Savourons ces courtes délices;
Disputons les mêmes au zephyr ;
Épuisons les rians calices,

De ces parfums qui vont mourir.

Souvent la beauté fugitive

Ressemble à la fleur du matin, Qui du front glacé du convive, Tombe avant l'heure du festin.

Un jour tombe, un autre se lève;
Le printemps va s'évanouir;
Chaque fleur que le vent enlève

Nous dit: Hâtez-vous d'en jouir.

Et puisqu'il faut qu'elles périssent,
Qu'elles périssent sans retour!
Que les roses ne se flétrissent,
Que sous les lèvres de l'Amour!

DE LAMARTINE.