A 5 -P t U . 
JpopulllS tremuloiks. Natural Order: Salicacece—Willow Family. 
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CELEBRATED in ancient lore was Phaeton, one of the sons 
of Phoebus Apollo. Epaphus, a reputed son of Zeus and Io, 
1 ^ denied that Phaeton was the son of Apollo, whereupon he, 
acting upon the advice of Clymene, his mother, went to the 
“ palace of the sun to test his paternity.” Phoebus acknowl¬ 
edged him as his son, taking oath that anything he should 
^demand as proof should be granted. Phaeton, probably desiring to 
^excite the envy of Epaphus and to pass in glory before his jealous gaze, 
fc asked to drive his father’s chariot of the sun for one day. Apollo, dis- 
rmayed, but mindful of his inviolable oath, granted the request. Phaeton 
ascended with joy, but his steeds ran away, and threatened to set fire 
to the earth, whereupon Jupiter killed him with a thunderbolt, and he 
fell into the river Po. His three sisters mourned him incessantly, and 
were at last changed into poplars by the pity of the gods, and their tears into 
amber. The Aspen is a species of poplar, whose leaves are attached to the 
branches by long, slender petioles or leaf-stems, which keep them tremulous with 
the slightest breeze. 
TITHY tremblest thou. Aspen? no storm threatens nigh; 
* * Not a cloud mars the peace of the love-beaming sky; 
’Tis the spring of thy being — no autumn is near 
Thy green boughs to wither, thy sweet leaves to sear! 
The sun, like a crown, o’er thy young head shines free, 
Then wherefore thus troubled? wdiat fear’st thou, fair tree? 
— Charles Swain. 
\ DELICATE, frail thing — but made 
^ ^ For spring sunshine, or summer shade. 
A slender flower, unmeet to bear 
One April shower — so slight, so fair. 
F)OSES bloom, and then they wither; 
Cheeks are bright, then tade and die; 
Shapes of light are wafted hither, 
Then, like visions, hurry by. 
— Percival. 
—Miss London. 
T7EELING hearts — touch them but lightly — pour 
^ A thousand melodies unheard before! —Rogers. 
