ROSE BUD.

MRS. NORTON

Love not! love not! ye hapless sons of clay,
Hope's gayest wreaths are made of earthly flowers:
Things that are made to fade and fall away,
Ere they have blossomed for a few short hours.

Love not! love not! The things you love may die, May perish from the gay and gladsome earth The silent stone, the blue and smiling sky,

Beams on its grave, as once upon its birth.

Love not! love not! The thing you love may change;

The rosy lip may cease to smile on you;

The kindly beaming eye grow cold and strange,
The heart still warmly beat yet not be true.

Love not! love not! O, warning vainly said:
In present hours, as in years gone by,
Love flings a halo round the dear one's head,
Faultless, immortal, till they change or die.

THE FORGT-ME-NOT.

The myosotis, or mouse-ear, is so called from the resemblance of its little oval leaves to the ear of a mouse. It is, however, generally now known by the prettier name of forget-me-not.

A gentleman and lady who expected soon to be united in marriage were one day walking along the banks of the Danube, and saw one of the flowers which grew upon its bank floating upon its waters. The lady expressed her admiration of the flower, and regretted that it should be lost. Whereupon the lover, wishing to secure it for his lady, cast himself into the water and seized the flower. He was unable to regain the shore, and, with a last and desperate effort, threw it at her feet, exclaiming, Virgils mich nicht,' and sunk to rise no more. The name and em blem since that time has been-forget-me-not.

BERNARD BARTON.

Blossoms more rich and rare than thou
May twine round beauty's graceful brow
In moods of sunny mirth;

The rose's or the myrtle's flower
Might more beseem her festive hour,
And give in pleasure's careless bower,
To brighter fancies birth.

But in these moments sad, yet dear,
When parting wakes affection's tear
Thy stainless blossoms braid,
Whose name forbids us to forget,
Would be the chosen coronet,

Love on the loveliest brow would set
To crave fond memory's id.

When earth to earth' and 'dust to dust,'
The loved, lamented, we intrust,

What flower may grace the spot,
Where sleeps the relics of the dead,
For whom the frequent tear is shed,

Like thine - which, from the grave's cold bed, Repeats, forget-me-not.'

ANON.

How many bright flowers around me are glancing,
Each seeking its praise, or its beauty enhancing!
The rose-buds are hanging like gems in the air,
And the lily-bell waves in her fragrance there.
Alas! I can claim neither fortune nor power,
Neither beauty nor fragrance are cast in my lot;
But contented I cling to my lowly bower,
And smile while I whisper, forget-me-not.'

·

THE SHADOW OF A FLOWER.

MRS. HEMANS.

"T was a dream of olden days,

That Art, by some strange power, The visionary form could raise From the ashes of a flower.

That a shadow of the rose,

By its own meek beauty bowed, Might slowly, leaf by leaf, unclose, Like pictures in a cloud.

Or the hyacinth to grace,
As a second rainbow, spring;
Of summer's path a dreary trace,
A fair, yet mournful thing!

For the glory of the bloom

That a flush around it shed,

And the soul within, the rich perfume, Where were they? - fled, all fled!

Nought but the dim faint line

To speak of vanished hours Memory! what are joys of thine? Shadows of buried flowers!

WHITE ROSE.

MRS. LOUISA S. P. SMITH

They were gathered for a bridal!
I knew it by their hue;
Fair as the summer moonlight
Upon the sleeping dew.

From their fair and fairy sisters
They were borne without a sigh,
For one remembered evening

To blossom and to die.

They were gathered for a bridal!
And fastened in a wreath;

But purer were the roses

Than the heart that lay beneath;

Yet the beaming eye was lovely,
And the coral lip was fair,

And the gazer looked and asked not
For the secret hidden there.

They were gathered for a bridal!

Where a thousand torches glistened, Where the holy words were spoken, And the false and faithless listened

And answered to the vow

Which another heart had taken,

Yet he was present there

The once loved, the forsaken.