CRYPTOGAMIA XICHENES. 105 



" ' Seeds, to our eye invisible, will find 

 On the rude rock the bed that fits their kind ; 

 There, in the rugged soil, they safely dwell, 

 Till showers and snows the subtle atoms swell, 

 And spread th' enduring foliage; then we trace 

 The freckled flower upon the flinty base ; 

 These all increase, till in unnoticed years 

 The stony tower as grey with age appears . 

 With coats of vegetation, thinly spread, 

 Coat above coat, the living on the dead : 

 These then dissolve to dust, and make a way 

 For bolder foliage, nursed by their decay : 

 The long-enduring Ferns in time will all 

 Die and depose their dust upon the wall; 

 Where the wing'd seed may rest, till many a flower 

 Shew Flora's triumph o'er the falling tower." 



RABBE. 



E 3 



