 | The British Months |  |
The study of Botany not to be slighted. Its pleasures and advantages. Not limited to a knowledge of the structure of flowers. Moral and religious uses
Neglect, despise, deride, who will,
The Botanist's unthrifty skill!
What though his unambitious aim
Seek not to share Linnæan fame;
Tho' of his lov'd pursuit to sound
The dark recesses more profound
He boast not; yet from flow'r to flow'r
To ramble thro' a leisure hour,
And like the honey-bee to sip
Fresh fragrance from each nectar'd lip,
Free nature's gift, a joy bestows,
Which fashion's tribe nor heeds nor knows.
The Botanist's unthrifty skill!
What though his unambitious aim
Seek not to share Linnæan fame;
Tho' of his lov'd pursuit to sound
The dark recesses more profound
He boast not; yet from flow'r to flow'r
To ramble thro' a leisure hour,
And like the honey-bee to sip
Fresh fragrance from each nectar'd lip,
Free nature's gift, a joy bestows,
Which fashion's tribe nor heeds nor knows.
To nature's every varying face
It gives each day a novel grace,
New wonders; and unfolds a store
Of knowledge not perceiv'd before.
To many a healthful walk abroad
It tempts, and many a neary road
Enlivens, cheering us along
As blithely as the pilgrim's song;
Reveals a garden in the waste,
And shows a feast before us placed,
Which he who wills may make his own,
Himself enriching, robbing none,
From taint, or fear of ill secure,
Uncostly, blameless, peaceful, pure!
And in a world, where guilt and woe
Too oft from thoughtless pastime flow:
And pleasure; purchas'd at the cost
Of health, and peace, and virtue lost,
And conscience; with illusive dreams
Snares the weak sense: not ill meseems
Does he amusement seek to find,
Not ill employ his vacant mind,
Who fixing there no conscious sting
For hurt or harm to living thing,
At nature's common board can feed
His simple taste; in every weed
As in some precious mine discern
A gem; and see at every turn
A bow'r of bliss salute his sight,
A paradise of new delight:
Perhaps not satisfied to scan
Alone what meets the eye, the plan
And outward structure of the flower;
But studious what its vital power
To scrutinise, and what its kind
And properties, and what, design'd
For man's behoof, its parts produce
Of pleasure, ornament, and use.
It gives each day a novel grace,
New wonders; and unfolds a store
Of knowledge not perceiv'd before.
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It tempts, and many a neary road
Enlivens, cheering us along
As blithely as the pilgrim's song;
Reveals a garden in the waste,
And shows a feast before us placed,
Which he who wills may make his own,
Himself enriching, robbing none,
From taint, or fear of ill secure,
Uncostly, blameless, peaceful, pure!
And in a world, where guilt and woe
Too oft from thoughtless pastime flow:
And pleasure; purchas'd at the cost
Of health, and peace, and virtue lost,
And conscience; with illusive dreams
Snares the weak sense: not ill meseems
Does he amusement seek to find,
Not ill employ his vacant mind,
Who fixing there no conscious sting
For hurt or harm to living thing,
At nature's common board can feed
His simple taste; in every weed
As in some precious mine discern
A gem; and see at every turn
A bow'r of bliss salute his sight,
A paradise of new delight:
Perhaps not satisfied to scan
Alone what meets the eye, the plan
And outward structure of the flower;
But studious what its vital power
To scrutinise, and what its kind
And properties, and what, design'd
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Of pleasure, ornament, and use.
Chief if the mind, entic'd to stray
In pleasant nature's flowery way,
Turn not aside its bounden care
From duty's bidding, nor forbear
Its just regards from God and men,
Our proper task assign'd. And then,
If contemplation in the school,
Where nature bears imperial rule,
God's delegate, dispose the heart
To dwell with virtue, and, apart
From worldly schemes and worldly strife,
Woo the pure joys of rural life.
Then most of all, if nature bear
Up to her great Artificer
The heavenward thought; and in the glass
Reflective of the blooming grass,
Incline us more and more to see
Of Him, who form'd, and bade it be,
And for its form a garb prepares;
And gives an earnest in his cares
For the brief plant, that he who thus
Provides for them must care for us.
In pleasant nature's flowery way,
Turn not aside its bounden care
From duty's bidding, nor forbear
Its just regards from God and men,
Our proper task assign'd. And then,
If contemplation in the school,
Where nature bears imperial rule,
God's delegate, dispose the heart
To dwell with virtue, and, apart
From worldly schemes and worldly strife,
Woo the pure joys of rural life.
Then most of all, if nature bear
Up to her great Artificer
The heavenward thought; and in the glass
Reflective of the blooming grass,
Incline us more and more to see
Of Him, who form'd, and bade it be,
And for its form a garb prepares;
And gives an earnest in his cares
For the brief plant, that he who thus
Provides for them must care for us.
Then to the soul, as to the sight,
Of learning full, as of delight,
Is nature's herbal: every flow'r,
That animates the passing hour,
Breathes on the meditative ear
A voice, that who hath ears may hear:
And thus they wake the solemn thought,
In words by heavenly Wisdom taught
To heedless, faithless men below,
“Consider, Christian, how we grow !”
Of learning full, as of delight,
Is nature's herbal: every flow'r,
That animates the passing hour,
Breathes on the meditative ear
A voice, that who hath ears may hear:
And thus they wake the solemn thought,
In words by heavenly Wisdom taught
103
“Consider, Christian, how we grow !”
| The British Months | |