 | The British Months |  |
General provisions for securing the seeds of plants. Different provisions. The Capsule. The Pod. The Legumen. Naked seeds of the Didynamious Class. Seeds of Compound flowers. The Berry. The fleshcovered Capsule. The Stone or Nut. The Cone. Variety of seed-vessels. Their curious formation.
What secret pow'r, mysterious skill,
Still varying, but successful still,
With what profound forecasting views,
Of nice design, does nature use,
From the bright blossom'd flow'r to breed,
Augment, secure the ripening seed:
The ripen'd seed to bring to birth,
That, trusted to the nurturing earth,
Each may fulfill its part assign'd;
And each, according to its kind,
Bring forth again in season due
Stem, branch, and leaf, and blossom new,
Fraught with the embryo seed again;
That nature's wheel may still maintain
Incessant its prolifick course;
When time was born, by sovereign force
Imprest of laws secure and fast,
And still, while time shall live, to last!
Still varying, but successful still,
With what profound forecasting views,
Of nice design, does nature use,
From the bright blossom'd flow'r to breed,
Augment, secure the ripening seed:
The ripen'd seed to bring to birth,
That, trusted to the nurturing earth,
Each may fulfill its part assign'd;
And each, according to its kind,
Bring forth again in season due
Stem, branch, and leaf, and blossom new,
Fraught with the embryo seed again;
That nature's wheel may still maintain
Incessant its prolifick course;
When time was born, by sovereign force
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And still, while time shall live, to last!
Succeeding to the vacant room,
Where flourish'd late the painted bloom,
Strange forms of differing shape and size
The inquiring eye delight, surprise!
Where flourish'd late the painted bloom,
Strange forms of differing shape and size
The inquiring eye delight, surprise!
Whether the Capsule's jointed chest
Its store with order just invest
In angular or globe-like hold;
Sole, or in chambers manifold
Arrang'd, within their homes decreed,
The separate families of seed;
So swells the Flax his rounded boll:
So, perforate with lateral hole,
Through which from their retreat within
The seeds a thoroughfare may win,
Extend the Throatwort's jointed cells;
And so the pretty Pimpernels
Secure their ripening treasure hid
Beneath a well-compacted lid;
And Poppy his, within a cope
Of oval balls obtuse, which ope
A range of circling valves, around
His disk with rays converging crown'd:—
Its store with order just invest
In angular or globe-like hold;
Sole, or in chambers manifold
Arrang'd, within their homes decreed,
The separate families of seed;
So swells the Flax his rounded boll:
So, perforate with lateral hole,
Through which from their retreat within
The seeds a thoroughfare may win,
Extend the Throatwort's jointed cells;
And so the pretty Pimpernels
Secure their ripening treasure hid
Beneath a well-compacted lid;
And Poppy his, within a cope
Of oval balls obtuse, which ope
A range of circling valves, around
His disk with rays converging crown'd:—
Whether the cruciate flow'r his pod
Contract, of figure short and broad;
As Candytuft, comprest and round,
A shield with circling border bound,
And Shepherd's purse, the counterpart,
In shape, of an inverted heart;
Or stretch his vessel, slim and tall,
Like that which clothes the scented wall,
Or that whose blossoms “silver white
Painted the meadows with delight:”—
Contract, of figure short and broad;
As Candytuft, comprest and round,
A shield with circling border bound,
And Shepherd's purse, the counterpart,
In shape, of an inverted heart;
Or stretch his vessel, slim and tall,
Like that which clothes the scented wall,
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Painted the meadows with delight:”—
Whether the Broom or flaunting Pea,
Robed in its insect drapery
Of banner broad and balanc'd wings,
Aside its fluttering raiment flings,
And from the keel's expanding bloom
Shoots lengthening forth the full legume:—
Robed in its insect drapery
Of banner broad and balanc'd wings,
Aside its fluttering raiment flings,
And from the keel's expanding bloom
Shoots lengthening forth the full legume:—
Whether beneath embowering helm,
Not like their brethren in the realm
Of nature, who their growing race
Safe in the capsule's folds embrace,
The curv'd and casque-like flow'rs above
O'erarching form a pent-house cove,
Nor aught of treasure-house below
Save in the tube-shaped chalice know,
Defensive of their four-fold seeds;
Such Bugle, Allheal, Selfheal, weeds
In the green pasture, Mint and Baum,
Archangel, and sweet Marjoram,
And sweeter Thyme, whose fragrant head
Bends to the climbing traveller's tread:—
Not like their brethren in the realm
Of nature, who their growing race
Safe in the capsule's folds embrace,
The curv'd and casque-like flow'rs above
O'erarching form a pent-house cove,
Nor aught of treasure-house below
Save in the tube-shaped chalice know,
Defensive of their four-fold seeds;
Such Bugle, Allheal, Selfheal, weeds
In the green pasture, Mint and Baum,
Archangel, and sweet Marjoram,
And sweeter Thyme, whose fragrant head
Bends to the climbing traveller's tread:—
In all boon nature seems to try
Profuse a strange variety;
All curious to the inquiring mind,
All apt to work the end design'd:
And still, as onward still we range,
She strikes us with perpetual change.
Profuse a strange variety;
All curious to the inquiring mind,
All apt to work the end design'd:
And still, as onward still we range,
She strikes us with perpetual change.
On single stem, the feathery down
All radiate, in a central crown
Collected, with a globe-like ball
Surmounts the staff of Goatsbeard tall:
Like-fashion'd, less of lofty place
Ambitious, claim congenial race
Hawkweed and Coltsfoot; Lion's tooth,
Amusive toy of early youth;
Groundsel and Thistle, oft despis'd,
But by the pretty Goldfinch priz'd:—
How many ray-like florets bloom,
To grace the germen's common room,
So many seeds their feathery robe
Unite to form that central globe;
Thence lightly floating on the gale,
Free nature's denizens they sail,
Fain, where a favouring spot they find,
To plant and propagate their kind.
All radiate, in a central crown
Collected, with a globe-like ball
Surmounts the staff of Goatsbeard tall:
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Ambitious, claim congenial race
Hawkweed and Coltsfoot; Lion's tooth,
Amusive toy of early youth;
Groundsel and Thistle, oft despis'd,
But by the pretty Goldfinch priz'd:—
How many ray-like florets bloom,
To grace the germen's common room,
So many seeds their feathery robe
Unite to form that central globe;
Thence lightly floating on the gale,
Free nature's denizens they sail,
Fain, where a favouring spot they find,
To plant and propagate their kind.
Imbedded in their pulpy coat,
Loose in the juicy berry float
The Rose and Cornel's naked seeds;
And Woodbine's, with translucent beads
In rings of crowded clusters strung;
And Currant's, in thick bunches hung
Dependent; and in many a head
Diffuse the tufted Hawthorn's spread.
There lurk the naked seeds within
The juicy pulp, and glossy skin:
His glossy skin the berry shows
Bright green at first; but ripening glows,
Still varying to the watchful eye,
With scarlet, black, or purple die.
Loose in the juicy berry float
The Rose and Cornel's naked seeds;
And Woodbine's, with translucent beads
In rings of crowded clusters strung;
And Currant's, in thick bunches hung
Dependent; and in many a head
Diffuse the tufted Hawthorn's spread.
There lurk the naked seeds within
The juicy pulp, and glossy skin:
His glossy skin the berry shows
Bright green at first; but ripening glows,
Still varying to the watchful eye,
With scarlet, black, or purple die.
In soft and pulpy coat array'd,
But each in case interior laid
Of twofold membrane, like the skin
Drest from the sheep, opaque and thin,
Their seeds the roseting'd apples bear,
Red Service, and the dull green Pear.
But each in case interior laid
Of twofold membrane, like the skin
Drest from the sheep, opaque and thin,
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Red Service, and the dull green Pear.
Still in soft pulp and girdling rind,
Nor less in inner coat confin'd
Of stonelike fence impervious, grow
The cherry red and purple sloe.
Without the pulp, in fortress shut
Well guarded, grows the hazel Nut:
And like the nut in lonely cell,
Though not like it in harden'd shell,
But mantled with a leathern cloak,
The kernel of the lordly Oak.
Nor less in inner coat confin'd
Of stonelike fence impervious, grow
The cherry red and purple sloe.
Without the pulp, in fortress shut
Well guarded, grows the hazel Nut:
And like the nut in lonely cell,
Though not like it in harden'd shell,
But mantled with a leathern cloak,
The kernel of the lordly Oak.
While tiers of solid scales, that lap
Each over each, and closely wrap
Their offspring in a strict embrace,
The embryos of a future race,
To form the shapely cone combine,
The seed-chest of the waving Pine.
Each over each, and closely wrap
Their offspring in a strict embrace,
The embryos of a future race,
To form the shapely cone combine,
The seed-chest of the waving Pine.
Such various forms will meet your eye,
If, fond of nature's works, you try
Inquisitive her floral store;
And on each curious method pore
Of unexhausted skill, to breed,
To lodge, and guard the ripening seed.
And haply though the flow'r dispense
More pleasure to the admiring sense
Of those who note the expanding bloom,
And taste its redolent perfume:
I know not but the observant mind
At least may equal pleasure find,
The seed chest's gradual growth to mark;
As, wrought in nature's workshop dark,
By slow degrees from day to day,
From hour to hour, it works its way,
From a mere speck, a jot, a point;
Till form'd each chamber, valve, and joint,
Without, within; howe'er minute
At first, the swoln and ripen'd fruit
The cearments, which their trust inclose
In their dark caverns, open throws,
By elemental aid disjoin'd,
The solar heat, the breathing wind,
The influence of the dropping sky;
And forth the seeds are lanc'd to try,
Where favouring chance may fix the scene,
Their fortune in this wide terrene,
And, nurs'd by nature's genial cares,
Raise like themselves successive heirs.
If, fond of nature's works, you try
Inquisitive her floral store;
And on each curious method pore
Of unexhausted skill, to breed,
To lodge, and guard the ripening seed.
And haply though the flow'r dispense
More pleasure to the admiring sense
Of those who note the expanding bloom,
And taste its redolent perfume:
I know not but the observant mind
At least may equal pleasure find,
The seed chest's gradual growth to mark;
As, wrought in nature's workshop dark,
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From hour to hour, it works its way,
From a mere speck, a jot, a point;
Till form'd each chamber, valve, and joint,
Without, within; howe'er minute
At first, the swoln and ripen'd fruit
The cearments, which their trust inclose
In their dark caverns, open throws,
By elemental aid disjoin'd,
The solar heat, the breathing wind,
The influence of the dropping sky;
And forth the seeds are lanc'd to try,
Where favouring chance may fix the scene,
Their fortune in this wide terrene,
And, nurs'd by nature's genial cares,
Raise like themselves successive heirs.
| The British Months | |