218 
CEREUS. 
For when life’s glittering sunbeams round me 
shone, 
Closed was my heart, nor gave one bud of love 
To glorify its bounteous Lord above. 
But sorrow came, and summer friends de¬ 
parted; 
Then at the throne of grace I learned to kneel. 
And now, aroused from sloth, and fervent- 
hearted, 
The holy glow of gratitude I feel, 
And those sweet leaves in darkness have un¬ 
furl’d. 
That shunned the gaudy splendour of the 
world. 
TO THE NIGHT-BLOWING CEREUS. 
H. r. JOHNS. 
Flower of the Night! mysteriously awake 
When Earth’s green tribes repose, why stealth¬ 
ful thus 
Com’st thou to meet the stars—unfolding soft 
Beneath their tranquil ray, thy peerless form ? 
Flower of the night! chaster than Alpine 
snows— 
Unvisited by aught save Heaven’s sweet 
breath— 
