Fresh buds the morning will bestow,
The cheering sun again will glow,
And gentle zephyrs round thee blow,
Each changing day;

But Hope again within my breast
Will never find a settled rest,

For in her sad forsaken nest,

Pale sorrow dwells.

The Gum-Cistus, Cistus ladaniferus, is a remarkable instance of the fugitiveness of flowers. It expands its corolla for a few hours only, which then falls off: yet other flowers come in such quick succession, that the shrub retains a gay appearance for five or six weeks:

Yet though the gauzy bells fall fast,

Long ere appears the evening crescent;
Another bloom succeeds the last,

As lovely, and as evanescent.

THE ARAB TO HIS FAVOURITE STEED.

My beautiful! my beautiful! thou standest meekly by
With thy proudly arch'd and glossy neck, and dark and fiery

eye;

Fret not to roam the desert now, with all thy winged speed, I may not mount on thee again— thou'rt sold, my Arab steed!

Fret not with that impatient hoof, snuff not the breezy wind, The further that thou fliest now, so far am I behind:

The stranger hath thy bridle-rein-thy master hath his goldFleet-limb'd and beautiful! farewell! thou 'rt sold, my steed, thou 'rt sold!

Farewell! those free untir'd limbs full many a mile must

roam,

To reach the chill and wintry sky which clouds the stranger's home :

Some other hand, less fond, must now thy corn and bed pre

pare,

Thy silky mane, I braided once, must be another's care!

The morning sun shall dawn again, but never more with

thee

Shall I gallop through the desert paths, where we were wont to be:

Evening shall darken on the earth; and o'er the sandy plain Some other steed, with slower step, shall bear me home again.

Yes, thou must go! the wild free breeze, the brilliant sun and sky,

Thy master's home-from all of these, my exil'd one must fly:

Thy proud dark eye will grow less proud, thy step become less fleet,

And vainly shalt thou arch thy neck, thy master's hand to

meet.

Only in sleep shall I behold that dark eye glancing bright ;
Only in sleep shall hear again that step so firm and light;
And when I raise my dreaming arm to check or cheer thy
speed,

Then must I, starting, wake to feel,-thou 'rt sold, my Arab steed!

Ah! rudely then, unseen by me, some cruel hand may chide, Till foam-wreaths lie, like crested waves, along thy panting

side;

And the rich blood that's in thee swells, in thy indignant

pain,

Till careless eyes, which rest on thee, may count each started vein.

Will they ill-use thee? If I thought—but no, it cannot be―
Thou art so swift, yet easy curb'd; so gentle, yet so free:
And yet, if haply, when thou 'rt gone, my lonely heart should

yearn,

Can the hand which cast thee from it now, command thee to return?

Return! alas! my Arab steed! what shall thy master do, When thou, who wert his all of joy, hast vanish'd from his

view!

When the dim distance cheats mine eye, and through the gathering tears,

Thy bright form, for a moment, like the false mirage appears;

Slow and unmounted will I roam, with weary step alone, Where with fleet step and joyous bound thou oft hast borne

me on;

And, sitting down by that green well, I'll pause and sadly think,

It was here he bowed his glossy neck when last I saw him drink!

When last I saw him drink!-Away, the fever'd dream is o'er,

I could not live a day, and know that we should meet no more !

They tempted me, my beautiful! for hunger's power is strong, They tempted me, my beautiful! but I have lov'd too long.

Who said that I had given thee up? who said that thou wert sold?

'Tis false-'tis false, my Arab steed! I fling them back their gold?

Thus, thus I leap upon thy back, and scour the distant plains ; Away! who overtakes us now, shall claim thee for his pains! MRS. NORTON.

"There is scarcely an Arabian, however poor, who does not possess one of these favourite animals, with which he lives on equal terms. Having no other habitation than a tent; himself, his wife, and family, his mare and her foal, rest peacefully together; and his children are often seen to climb without fear upon the inoffensive creatures, which permit them to play and to caress them without injury. An Arab never beats his horse, but speaks to him in the language of friendship; while the faithful servant evinces equal attachment to his master, and is so tractable as readily to stop at that master's bidding in the midst of his most rapid course." The above beautiful lines well pourtray the grief and resolution of an Arab, who had been induced by the fear of poverty to relinquish his favourite steed. See Domesticated Animals, p. 71.

THE THISTLE-DOWN.

LIGHTLY Soars the Thistle-down;

Lightly doth it float;

Lightly seeds of care are sown,

Little do we note.

Lightly floats the Thistle-down,
Far and wide it flies;
By the faintest zephyr blown
Through the shining skies.

Watch life's thistles bud and blow

Oh! 'tis pleasant folly;

But when all our paths they sow,

Then comes melancholy.

The Seed-down of plants, which is one of the distinguishing characters of compound flowers, is termed by botanists pappus, because it resembles the grey hairs of age. A seed, surmounted by this appendage, very much resembles a shuttle-cock, by which admirable mechanism, they are transported by the wind to a considerable distance from the parent-plant,-a wonderful contrivance in Nature to disseminate her productions. Of these feathered seeds Sir J. E.

Smith observes, "How little are children aware, as they blow away the seeds of the Dandelion, or stick burs in sport upon each other's clothes, that they are fulfilling one of the great ends of Nature!" It has been calculated by Dr. Woodward, that one seed of the common Thistle will produce, at the first crop, 24,000, and consequently 576,000,000 of seeds at the second. This profusion can only be intended as a supply of food for the smaller birds; and hence, even the sight of a thistle's down buffeted by the winds, inspires us with a sense of the benevolence of the great Author of Nature. Besides these seeds, furnished with a plume for diffusing themselves, others are disseminated by animals :-of which some attach themselves to the hair or feathers by a gluten, as the mistletoe; others by hooks, as the cleavers, burdock, hound's tongue; others are swallowed for the sake of the fruit, and voided uninjured, as the haw, juniperberry, and some grasses; other seeds again are dispersed by means of an elastic seed-vessel, as oats, crane's-bill, Noli me tangere: and the seeds of aquatic plants, are carried many miles by the currents into which they fall.

Then spring the living herbs, profusely wild,
O'er all the deep-green earth, beyond the power
Of botanist to number up their tribes.
With such a liberal hand has Nature flung
Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds,
Innumerous mix'd them with the nursing mould,
The moistening current, and prolific rain.

THOMSON.

JUNE.

Ar this sweet time, the glory of the Spring,
Young verdurous June's delightful opening,

When leaves are loveliest, and young fruits and flowers,
Fear not the frosts of May's uncertain hours;
Rich, rife, luxuriant, yet with tenderest hues,
Waves the full foliage; and with morning dews,
And showers that gush down from the radiant skies,
To bring below the air of Paradise,

Awakening freshest fragrance as they pass;
There is a peerless greenness on the grass,
Yet somewhat darken'd with the loftier swell,
And purple tinge, of spike and pannicle ;
While vivid is the gleam of distant corn,
And long and merry are the songs of morn;
'Tis wise to let the touch of Nature thrill
Through the full heart; 'tis wise to take your fill
Of all she brings, and gently to give way
To what within your soul she seems to say:
"The world grows rich in beauty and in bliss,
Past Springs were welcome, none so much as this."