SENSITIVE PLANT. 
109 
“ Whence does it happen that the plant, which well 
We name the ‘sensitive,’ should move and feel ? 
Whence know her leaves to answer her command, 
And with quick horror fly the neighboring hand ? ” 
There is one most remarkable member of this extra¬ 
ordinary family, known as the “ friendly-tree,” which 
droops its branches whenever any person approaches it, 
seeming as if it saluted those who sought retreat beneath 
its sheltering boughs. Moore calls it 
“ That courteous tree, 
Which bows to all who seek its canopj.” 
THE MIMOSA. 
DAKWIN. 
Weak, with nice sense, the chaste mimosa stands; 
From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands. 
Oft, as light clouds pass o’er the Summer’s glade. 
Alarmed, she trembles at the moving shade, 
And feels alive through all her tender form 
The whispered murmurs of the gathering storm ; 
Shuts her sweet eyelids to approaching night, 
And hails with freshened charms the rosy light. 
