230 THE TWO FLORAS, 



THE TWO FLORAS, MARINE AND TERRESTRIAL 

 BEARING OF THE EXPERIENCE ARGUMENT. 



Is the reader acquainted with the graphic verse, and scarce 

 less graphic prose, in which Crabbe describes the appearances 

 presented by a terrestrial vegetation affected by the waters 

 of the sea ? In both passages, as in all his purely descrip- 

 tive writings, there is a solidity of truthful observation ex- 

 hibited, which triumphs over their general homeliness of 



vein. 



** On either side 

 Is level fen, a prospect wild and wide. 

 With dykes on either hand, by ocean self-suppL'ed. 

 Far on the right the distant sea is seen. 

 And salt the springs that feed the marsh between ; 

 Beneath an ancient bridge the straitened flood 

 Rolls through its sloping banks of slimy mud ; 

 Near it a sunken boat resists the tide. 

 That frets and hurries to the opposing side ; 

 The rushes sharp, that on the borders grow. 

 Bend their brown florets to the stream below. 

 Impure in all its course, in all its progress slow. 

 Here a grave Flora scarcely deigns to bloom. 

 Nor wears a rosy blush, nor sheds perfume. 

 The few dull flowers that o'er the place are spread. 

 Partake the nature of their fenny bed ; 

 Here on its wiry stem, in rigid bloom, 

 Growg the salt lavender, that laoks perfume ; 



