76 FABLES OF FLORA. 
TIIE NETTLE. 
This poisonous weed is the emblem of slander. 
Dr. Darwin thus characterizes it 
‘ O’er the throng Urtica flings 
Her barbed shafts, and darts her poisonous stings.’ 
But in the following Fable, we have chosen to 
give it a different character. 
FABLE XXII. 
The Nettle. 
’Neath the willow’s golden plumes, 
On a little mossy seat, 
Where the snow-white violet blooms, 
Where the air is cool and sweet, 
Here, reposing, full of dreams, 
I the vernal noontide spent, 
Watching how, in fitful gleams, 
Sunbeams came, and shadows went. 
Broken were my dreams, ere long, 
By a low and mournful sound; 
’T was the Nettle’s plaintive song, 
Uttered to the flowers around. 
