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possesses the peculiar property of blooming and 
emitting its delightful fragrance during the 
night. ‘There are 
Plants that wake when others sleep ; 
Like timid jasmine buds that keep 
Their odour to themselves all day, 
But, when the sun-light dies away, 
Let the delicious secret out 
To every breeze that roams about. 
The first bud of the Sorrowful Tree opens as 
soon as the first star appears in the heavens; 
and, as the shades of night advance, and the 
stars thickly stud the sky, the buds continue 
gradually blowing until the whole tree presents 
the appearance of one immense flower—the 
flower of a world, compared with which our 
earth would be but a football. On the approach 
of morning, when the brilliancy of the stars 
gradually fades in the light of day, the Sorrowful 
Tree closes its flowers ; and, when the first beam 
of the rising sun appears, not a single blossom 
is visible. A sheet of flower-dust, as white as 
snow, covers the ground around the foot of 
the tree, which seems blighted and withered 
during the day, while, however, it is invisibly 



















