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purpose, it should seem, of presenting the 

 flower, and with the flower the instruments of 

 fructification, to the genial influence of the 

 sun's rays. " This always struck me (says 

 Dr. Paley) as a curious property ; and specifi- 

 cally, as well as originally, provided for in the 

 constitution of the plant : for if the stem be 

 only bent by the weight of the head, how comes 

 it to straighten itself when the head is the hea- 

 viest? These instances show the attention of 

 nature to this principal object : the safety and 

 maturation of the parts upon which the seed 

 depends/' 



TO THE POPPY. 



When jocund Summer leads her laughing hours, 

 And decks her zone with odorific flowers, 

 'Tis then thy charms attract the vulgar gaze, 

 And tempt the view with meretricious blaze ; 

 Caught by thy glare, with pleasure they behold 

 Thy glowing crimson melting into gold. 

 In vain to nobler minds thy lure is spread, 

 Thy painted front, thy cup of glowing red ; 

 Beneath thy bloom, such noxious vapours lie, 

 That when obtain'd, and smelt, we loathe and fly ; 

 Thus pleasure spreads for all her silken joys, 

 And oft, too late, the painted prospect cloys* 



