CE REUS, 
Yes, peerless flower! the heavens alone exhale 
Thy fragrance, while the glittering stars attest; 
And incense, wafted from the midnight gale, 
Untainted rises from thy spotless breast. 
Sweet emblem of that faith, which seeks, apart 
From human praise, to love and work unseen; 
That gives to Heaven an undivided heart — 
In sorrow steadfast, and in joy serene ! 
Anchor’d on God, no adverse cloud can dim; 
Her eye, unalter’d, still is fix’d on Him! 
125 
TO THE NIGHT.BLOWING CEREUS. 
H. I. JOHNS. 
Flower of the Night! mysteriously awake 
When Earth’s green tribes repose, why stealthful thus 
Comest 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 — 
Why hide thy loveliness from mortal eye, 
Why pour thy fragrance to the unconscious night? 
— Thou art, alas! too exquisitely fair, 
Too pure for Earth’s corrupted denizens! 
Yet not in vain thy odoriferous breath, 
And beauty all unearthly: He who thus 
Hath fashion’d thee a chaste and midnight gem; 
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