272 FUNGI. 



Bestud the moist autumnal earth ; 

 A quick, but perishable birth. 

 Prompt to alter, fade, decay ; 

 Tho' much you fail not to admire, 

 Their parts, their structure, their attire, 

 The pillar stem, the table head, 

 As with a silken carpet spread, 

 Inlaid with many a brilliant dye 

 Of nature's high wrought tapestry ; 

 Of autumn's waning strength they speak, 

 And tell how nature, worn and weak, 

 Prepares her sceptre to resign, 

 And in inactive languor pine." 



