AND FLOWERS OF POETRY. 87 
For a rich gleam breaks through its braids of brown, 
Like a smile from Day’s bright Eye sent down ; 
Beautiful? yes! but the rose will fade; 
The smile grow dim which the bright eyes wear; 
The gloss will vanish from curl and braid, 
And the sunbeam die in the drooping hair! 
Turn from the mirror! and strive to win 
Treasures of loveliness still to last; 
Gather earth’s glory and bloom within! 
They will be thine when youth is past. 
f. s. o. 
A would-be belle once broke her glass, 
For reflecting a loveless frown she wore; 
And you are breaking my heart, sweet lass, 
For telling you truth, like the mirror of yore! 
F. s. o. 
FLATTERY’S SMILE. 
BUCKBEAN. 
Br that lake whose silvery waters reflect the cloudless sky, 
do you see those clusters of flowers, white as the drifted snow ? 
The underside of those beautiful flowers is lightly tinged with 
a rosy hue; and a tuft of filaments of great delicacy and of 
dazzling whiteness, springs from each alabaster cup. Lan¬ 
guage will not convey a just idea of the elegance of this plant; 
but, if once seen waving gently over the water’s brink, whose 
transparency and freshness it seems to increase, it will never be 
forgotten. The flowers of the buckbean never open in stormy 
