Floral Poetry. 
THE LAURUSTINUS. 
AIR tree of Winter ! fresh and flowering, 
When all around is dead and dry ; 
Whose ruby buds, though storms are louring, 
Spread their white blossoms to the sky : 
Green are thy leaves, more purely green 
Through every changing period seen ; 
And when the gaudy months are past, 
Thy loveliest season is the last. 
Be thou an emblem—thus unfolding 
The history of that maiden’s mind, 
Whose eye, these humble lines beholding, 
In them her future lot may find : 
Through life’s mutations may she be 
A modest evergreen like thee : 
Though blessed in youth, in age more blessed, 
Still be her latest days the best. 
Montgomery. 
SWEET LAVENDER. 
S WEET Lavender ! I love thy flower 
Of meek and modest blue, 
Which meets the morn and evening hour, 
The storm, the sunshine, and the shower, 
And changeth not its hue. 
In cottage-maid’s parterre thou’rt seen 
In simple touching grace : 
And in the garden of the queen, 
Midst costly plants and blossoms sheen, 
Thou also hast a place. 
