The Botanic Garden Volume Ii Part 7

[About twenty letters, ten cyphers, and seven crotches, represent by their numerous combinations all our ideas and sensations! the musical characters are probably arrived at their perfection, unless emphasis, and tone, and swell could be expressed, as well as note and time. Charles the Twelfth of Sweden had a design to have introduced a numeration by squares, instead of by decimation, which might have served the purposes of philosophy better than the present mode, which is said to be of Arabic invention. The alphabet is yet in a very imperfect state; perhaps seventeen letters could express all the simple sounds in the European languages. In China they have not yet learned to divide their words into syllables, and are thence necessitated to employ many thousand characters; it is said above eighty thousand. It is to be wished, in this ingenious age, that the European nations would accord to reform our alphabet.]

Hear her sweet voice, the golden process prove; Gaze, as they learn; and, as they listen, love.

_The first_ from Alpha to Omega joins The letter'd tribes along the level lines; 125 Weighs with nice ear the vowel, liquid, surd, And breaks in syllables the volant word.

Then forms _the next_ upon the marshal'd plain In deepening ranks his dexterous cypher-train; And counts, as wheel the decimating bands, 130 The dews of aegypt, or Arabia's sands, And then _the third_ on four concordant lines Prints the lone crotchet, and the quaver joins; Marks the gay trill, the solemn pause inscribes, And parts with bars the undulating tribes.

135 Pleased round her cane-wove throne, the applauding crowd Clap'd their rude hands, their swarthy foreheads bow'd; With loud acclaim "a present G.o.d!" they cry'd, "A present G.o.d!" rebellowing sh.o.r.es reply'd-- Then peal'd at intervals with mingled swell 140 The echoing harp, shrill clarion, horn, and sh.e.l.l; While Bards ecstatic, bending o'er the lyre, Struck deeper chords, and wing'd the song with fire.

Then mark'd Astronomers with keener eyes The Moon's refulgent journey through the skies; 145 Watch'd the swift Comets urge their blazing cars, And weigh'd the Sun with his revolving Stars.

High raised the Chemists their Hermetic wands, (And changing forms obey'd their waving hands,) Her treasur'd gold from Earth's deep chambers tore, 150 Or fused and harden'd her chalybeate ore.

All with bent knee from fair PAPYRA claim Wove by her hands the wreath of deathless fame.

--Exulting Genius crown'd his darling child, The young Arts clasp'd her knees, and Virtue smiled.

155 So now DELANY forms her mimic bowers, Her paper foliage, and her silken flowers;

[_So now Delany_. l. 155. Mrs. Delany has finished nine hundred and seventy accurate and elegant representations of different vegetables with the parts of their flowers, fructification, &c. according with the cla.s.sification of Linneus, in what she terms paper-mosaic. She began this work at the age of 74, when her sight would no longer serve her to paint, in which she much excelled; between her age of 74 and 82, at which time her eyes quite failed her, she executed the curious Hortus ficcus above-mentioned, which I suppose contains a greater number of plants than were ever before drawn from the life by any one person. Her method consisted in placing the leaves of each plant with the petals, and all the other parts of the flowers, on coloured paper, and cutting them with scissars accurately to the natural size and form, and then parting them on a dark ground; the effect of which is wonderful, and their accuracy less liable to fallacy than drawings. She is at this time (1788) in her 89th year, with all the powers of a fine understanding still unimpaired.

I am informed another very ingenious lady, Mrs. North, is constructing a similar Hortus ficcus, or Paper-garden; which she executes on a ground of vellum with such elegant taste and scientific accuracy, that it cannot fail to become a work of inestimable value.]

Her virgin train the tender scissars ply, Vein the green leaf, the purple petal dye: Round wiry stems the flaxen tendril bends, 160 Moss creeps below, and waxen fruit impends.

Cold Winter views amid his realms of snow DELANY'S vegetable statues blow; Smooths his stern brow, delays his h.o.a.ry wing, And eyes with wonder all the blooms of spring.

165 The gentle LAPSANA, NYMPHaeA fair, And bright CALENDULA with golden hair,

[_Lapsana, Nymphaea alba, Calendula_. l. 165. And many other flowers close and open their petals at certain hours of the day; and thus const.i.tute what Linneus calls the Horologe, or Watch of Flora. He enumerates 46 flowers, which possess this kind of sensibility. I shall mention a few of them with their respective hours of rising and setting, as Linneus terms them. He divides them first into _meteoric_ flowers, which less accurately observe the hour of unfolding, but are expanded sooner or later, according to the cloudiness, moisture, or pressure of the atmosphere. 2d. _Tropical_ flowers open in the morning and close before evening every day; but the hour of the expanding becomes earlier or later, at the length of the day increases or decreases. 3dly. _aequinoctial_ flowers, which open at a certain and exact hour of the day, and for the most part close at another determinate hour.

Hence the Horologe or Watch of Flora is formed from numerous plants, of which the following are those most common in this country. Leontodon taraxac.u.m, Dandelion, opens at 5--6, closes at 8--9. Hieracium pilosella, mouse-ear hawkweed, opens at 8, closes at 2. Sonchus laevis, smooth Sow-thistle, at 5 and at 11--12. Lactuca sativa, cultivated Lettice, at 7 and jo. Tragopogon luteum, yellow Goatsbeard, at 3--5 and at 9--10.

Lapsana, nipplewort, at 5--6 and at 10--1. Nymphaea alba, white water lily, at 7 and 5. Papaver nudicaule, naked poppy, at 5 and at 7.

Hemerecallis fulva, tawny Day-lily, at 5 and at 7--8. Convolvulus, at 5--6. Malva, Mallow, at 9--10, and at 1. Arenarea purpurea, purple Sandwort, at 9--10, and at 2--3. Anagallis, pimpernel, at 7--8. Portulaca hortensis, garden Purilain, at 9--10, and at 11--12. Dianthus prolifer, proliferous Pink, at 8 and at 1. Cich.o.r.eum, Succory, at 4--5.

Hypochiaeris, at 6--7, and at 4--5. Crepis at 4--5, and at 10--II.

Picris, at 4--5, and at 12. Calendula field, at 9, and at 3. Calendula African, at 7, and at 3--4.

As these observations were probably made in the botanic gardens at Upsal, they must require further attention to suit them to our climate. See Stillingfleet Calendar of Flora.]

Watch with nice eye the Earth's diurnal way, Marking her solar and sidereal day, Her slow nutation, and her varying clime, 170 And trace with mimic art the march of Time; Round his light foot a magic chain they fling, And count the quick vibrations of his wing.-- First in its brazen cell reluctant roll'd Bends the dark spring in many a steely fold; 175 On spiral bra.s.s is stretch'd the wiry thong, Tooth urges tooth, and wheel drives wheel along; In diamond-eyes the polish'd axles flow, Smooth slides the hand, the ballance pants below.

Round the white circlet in relievo bold 180 A Serpent twines his scaly length in gold; And brightly pencil'd on the enamel'd sphere Live the fair trophies of the pa.s.sing year.

--Here _Time's_ huge fingers grasp his giant-mace, And dash proud Superst.i.tion from her base, 185 Rend her strong towers and gorgeous fanes, and shed The crumbling fragments round her guilty head.

There the gay _Hours_, whom wreaths of roses deck, Lead their young trains amid the c.u.mberous wreck; And, slowly purpling o'er the mighty waste, 190 Plant the fair growths of Science and of Taste.

While each light _Moment_, as it dances by With feathery foot and pleasure-twinkling eye, Feeds from its baby-hand, with many a kiss, The callow nestlings of domestic Bliss.

195 As yon gay clouds, which canopy the skies, Change their thin forms, and lose their lucid dyes; So the soft bloom of Beauty's vernal charms Fades in our eyes, and withers in our arms.

--Bright as the silvery plume, or pearly sh.e.l.l, 200 The snow-white rose, or lily's virgin bell, The fair h.e.l.lEBORAS attractive shone, Warm'd every Sage, and every Shepherd won.-- Round the gay sisters press the _enamour'd bands_, And seek with soft solicitude their hands.

205 --Ere while how chang'd!--in dim suffusion lies The glance divine, that lighten'd in their eyes;

[_h.e.l.leborus_. I. 201. Many males, many females. The h.e.l.leborus niger, or Christmas rose, has a large beautiful white flower, adorned with a circle of tubular two-lipp'd nectarics. After impregnation the flower undergoes a remarkable change, the nectaries drop off, but the white corol remains, and gradually becomes quite green. This curious metamorphose of the corol, when the nectaries fall off, seems to shew that the white juices of the corol were before carried to the nectaries, for the purpose of producing honey: because when these nectaries fall off, no more of the white juice is secreted in the corol, but it becomes green, and degenerates into a calyx. See note on Lonicera. The nectary of the Tropaeolum, garden nasturtion, is a coloured horn growing from the calyx.]

Cold are those lips, where smiles seductive hung, And the weak accents linger on their tongue; Each roseat feature fades to livid green,-- 210 --Disgust with face averted shuts the scene.

So from his gorgeous throne, which awed the world, The mighty Monarch of the east was hurl'd, To dwell with brutes beneath the midnight storm, By Heaven's just vengeance changed in mind and form.

215 --p.r.o.ne to the earth He bends his brow superb, Crops the young floret and the bladed herb; Lolls his red tongue, and from the reedy side Of slow Euphrates laps the muddy tide.

Long eagle-plumes his arching neck invest, 220 Steal round his arms, and clasp his sharpen'd breast; Dark brinded hairs in bristling ranks, behind, Rise o'er his back, and rustle in the wind, Clothe his lank sides, his shrivel'd limbs surround, And human hands with talons print the ground.

225 Silent in s.h.i.+ning troops the Courtier-throng Pursue their monarch as he crawls along; E'en Beauty pleads in vain with smiles and tears, Nor Flattery's self can pierce his pendant ears.

_Two_ Sister-Nymphs to Ganges' flowery brink 230 Bend their light steps, the lucid water drink, Wind through the dewy rice, and nodding canes, (As _eight_ black Eunuchs guard the sacred plains), With playful malice watch the scaly brood, And shower the inebriate berries on the flood.-- 235 Stay in your crystal chambers, silver tribes!

Turn your bright eyes, and shun the dangerous bribes; The tramel'd net with less destruction sweeps Your curling shallows, and your azure deeps; With less deceit, the gilded fly beneath, 240 Lurks the fell hook unseen,--to taste is death!-- --Dim your slow eyes, and dull your pearly coat, Drunk on the waves your languid forms shall float,

[_Two Sister-Nymphs._ l. 229. Menispernum. Cocculus. Indian berry. Two houses, twelve males. In the female flower there are two styles and eight filaments without anthers on their summits; which are called by Linneus eunuchs. See the note on Curc.u.ma. The berry intoxicates fish. Saint Anthony of Padua, when the people refused to hear him, preached to the fish, and converted them. Addison's travels in Italy.]

On useless fins in giddy circles play, And Herons and Otters seize you for their prey.--

245 So, when the Saint from Padua's graceless land In silent anguish sought the barren strand, High on the shatter'd beech sublime He stood, Still'd with his waving arm the babbling flood; "To Man's dull ear," He cry'd, "I call in vain, "Hear me, ye scaly tenants of the main!"-- 250 Misshapen Seals approach in circling flocks, In dusky mail the Tortoise climbs the rocks, Torpedoes, Sharks, Rays, Porpus, Dolphins, pour Their twinkling squadrons round the glittering sh.o.r.e; 255 With tangled fins, behind, huge Phocae glide, And Whales and Grampi swell the distant tide.

Then kneel'd the h.o.a.ry Seer, to heaven address'd His fiery eyes, and smote his sounding breast; "Bless ye the Lord!" with thundering voice he cry'd, 260 "Bless ye the Lord!" the bending sh.o.r.es reply'd; The winds and waters caught the sacred word, And mingling echoes shouted "Bless the Lord!"

The listening shoals the quick contagion feel, Pant on the floods, inebriate with their zeal, 265 Ope their wide jaws, and bow their slimy heads, And dash with frantic fins their foamy beds.

Sopha'd on silk, amid her charm-built towers, Her meads of asphodel, and amaranth bowers, Where Sleep and Silence guard the soft abodes, 270 In sullen apathy PAPAVER nods.

Faint o'er her couch in scintillating streams Pa.s.s the thin forms of Fancy and of Dreams; Froze by inchantment on the velvet ground Fair youths and beauteous ladies glitter round;

[_Papaver_. l. 270. Poppy. Many males, many females. The plants of this cla.s.s are almost all of them poisonous; the finest opium is procured by wounding the heads of large poppies with a three-edged knife, and tying muscle-sh.e.l.ls to them to catch the drops. In small quant.i.ties it exhilarates the mind, raises the pa.s.sions, and invigorates the body: in large ones it is succeeded by intoxication, languor, stupor and death.

It is customary in India for a messenger to travel above a hundred miles without rest or food, except an appropriated bit of opium for himself, and a larger one for his horse at certain stages. The emaciated and decrepid appearance, with the ridiculous and idiotic gestures, of the opium-eaters in Constantinople is well described in the Memoirs of Baron de Tott.]

275 On crystal pedestals they seem to sigh, Bend the meek knee, and lift the imploring eye.

--And now the Sorceress bares her shrivel'd hand, And circles thrice in air her ebon wand; Flush'd with new life descending statues talk, 280 The pliant marble softening as they walk; With deeper sobs reviving lovers breathe, Fair bosoms rise, and soft hearts pant beneath; With warmer lips relenting damsels speak, And kindling blushes tinge the Parian cheek; 285 To viewless lutes aerial voices sing, And hovering Loves are heard on rustling wing.

--She waves her wand again!--fresh horrors seize Their stiffening limbs, their vital currents freeze; By each cold nymph her marble lover lies, 290 And iron slumbers seal their gla.s.sy eyes.

So with his dread Caduceus HERMES led From the dark regions of the imprison'd dead, Or drove in silent shoals the lingering train To Night's dull sh.o.r.e, and PLUTO'S dreary reign 295 So with her waving pencil CREWE commands The realms of Taste, and Fancy's fairy lands; Calls up with magic voice the shapes, that sleep In earth's dark bosom, or unfathom'd deep; That shrined in air on viewless wings aspire, 300 Or blazing bathe in elemental fire.

As with nice touch her plaistic hand she moves, Rise the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves; Kneel to the fair Inchantress, smile or sigh, And fade or flourish, as she turns her eye.

305 Fair CISTA, rival of the rosy dawn, Call'd her light choir, and trod the dewy lawn; Hail'd with rude melody the new-born May, As cradled yet in April's lap she lay.

[_So with her waving pencil._ l. 295. Alluding to the many beautiful paintings by Miss EMMA CREWE; to whom the author is indebted for the very elegant Frontispiece, where Flora, at play with Cupid, is loading him with garden-tools.]

[_Cistus labdaniferus._ l. 304. Many males, one female. The petals of this beautiful and fragrant shrub, as well as of the Oenothera, tree primrose, and others, continue expanded but a few hours, falling off about noon, or soon after, in hot weather. The most beautiful flowers of the Cactus grandiflorus (see Cerea) are of equally short duration, but have their existence in the night. And the flowers of the Hibiscus trionum are said to continue but a single hour. The courts.h.i.+p between the males and females in these flowers might be easily watched; the males are said to approach and recede from the females alternately. The flowers of the Hibiscus sinensis, mutable rose, live in the West Indies, their native climate, but one day; but have this remarkable property, they are white at the first expansion, then change to deep red, and become purple as they decay.

The gum or resin of this fragrant vegetable is collected from extensive underwoods of it in the East by a singular contrivance. Long leathern thongs are tied to poles and cords, and drawn over the tops of these shrubs about noon; which thus collect the dust of the anthers, which adheres to the leather, and is occasionally sc.r.a.ped off. Thus in some degree is the manner imitated, in which the bee collects on his thighs and legs the same material for the construction of his combs.]

I.

"Born in yon blaze of orient sky, 310 "Sweet MAY! thy radiant form unfold; "Unclose thy blue voluptuous eye, "And wave thy shadowy locks of gold.

II.