THE SLEEP OF PLANTS.
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The leaves of plants are observed to take a different position in the night season, being folded over the germ, and the whole presenting the appearance of rest. A species of the acacia, the common locust, is a beautiful example of this; whence a child once prettily said, “It is n't time to go to bed, till the acacia goes to sleep!” Linnæus elegantly terms this property, “The sleep of plants.”
Away, pretty zephyr, away, away,
The flowerets all are sleeping,
The moon is out with her silver ray,
The stars, too, watch are keeping;
It is all in vain, thou silly thing,
To lavish the incense from thy wing;
They will not awake from love of thee,
Gay idler from sunny skies,
Who dippest thy wing in the glassy sea,
Stealing along with quick surprise,
Bending the grass, and bowing the grain,
A moment here, and away again.
Nay! toss the leaves, it is useless all,
For closed is each dewy eye,
The insect-hum, and the water-fall,
Are singing their lullaby;
And each in folding its mantle up,
An incense pressed from its perfumed cup.
The blushing bud is but lightly stirred,
The pendent leaf is at rest,
And all will sleep, till the little bird
Springs up from its dewy nest;
And then the blossom its head will raise,
To greet the morn with a look of praise.
