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POETRY OF FLOWERS. 305 
And the orchards dress in their gayest gear— 
"Tis the holiday-time of the circling year ; 
And bid the birds sing on each branch and spray, 
While the gay flowers dance, in genial ray. 
Oh! merry and glad will the bright earth be, 
When cold Winter retreats, and thou art free— 
All floating around us on fragrant wing, 
And gemmed with goft dew-drops—the fair young 
Spring! 
THE WALL-FLOWER. 
CHEERFUL ’midst desolation’s sadness—thou — 
Fair flower, art wont to grace the mouldering 
pile, 
And brightly bloom oter ruin, like a smile 
Reposing calm on age’s furrowed brow— 
Sweet monitor! an emblem sure I see 
Of virtue, and of virtue’s power, in thee, 
For though thou cheerest the dull ruin’s gloom, 
Still when thou’rt found upon the gay parterre, 
There thou art sweetest—fairest of the fair s— 
So virtue, while it robs of dread the tomb, 
Shines in the crown that youth and beauty 
wear, 
Being best of all the gems that glitter there. 
121 2A 















