Conversations introducing poetry chiefly on subjects of natural history. For the use of children and young persons. By Charlotte Smith |
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| 9. | CONVERSATION THE NINTH. |
 | Conversations introducing poetry |  |
CONVERSATION THE NINTH.
134
TO THE MULBERRY-TREE.
ON READING THE ORIENTAL APHORISM, “BY PATIENCE AND LABOUR THE MULBERRY-LEAF BECOMES SATIN.”
Hither, in half blown garlands drest,
Advances the reluctant Spring,
And shrinking, feels her tender breast
Chill'd by Winter's snowy wing;
Nor wilt thou, alien as thou art, display
Or leaf, or swelling bud, to meet the varying day.
Advances the reluctant Spring,
And shrinking, feels her tender breast
Chill'd by Winter's snowy wing;
Nor wilt thou, alien as thou art, display
Or leaf, or swelling bud, to meet the varying day.
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Yet, when the mother of the rose,
Bright June, leads on the glowing hours,
And from her hands luxuriant throws
Her lovely groups of Summer flowers;
Forth from thy brown and unclad branches shoot
Serrated leaves and rudiments of fruit.
Bright June, leads on the glowing hours,
And from her hands luxuriant throws
Her lovely groups of Summer flowers;
Forth from thy brown and unclad branches shoot
Serrated leaves and rudiments of fruit.
And soon those boughs umbrageous spread
A shelter from Autumnal rays,
While gay beneath thy shadowy head,
His gambols happy childhood plays;
Eager, with crimson fingers to amass
Thy ruby fruit, that strews the turfy grass.
A shelter from Autumnal rays,
While gay beneath thy shadowy head,
His gambols happy childhood plays;
Eager, with crimson fingers to amass
Thy ruby fruit, that strews the turfy grass.
But where, festoon'd with purple vines,
More freely grows thy graceful form,
And skreen'd by towering Appenines,
Thy foliage feeds the spinning worm;
Patience and Industry protect thy shade,
And see, by future looms, their care repaid.
More freely grows thy graceful form,
And skreen'd by towering Appenines,
Thy foliage feeds the spinning worm;
Patience and Industry protect thy shade,
And see, by future looms, their care repaid.
They mark the threads, half viewless wind
That form the shining light cocoon,
Now tinted as the orange rind,
Or paler than the pearly moon;
Then at their summons in the task engage,
Ligh active youth, and tremulous old age.
That form the shining light cocoon,
Now tinted as the orange rind,
Or paler than the pearly moon;
Then at their summons in the task engage,
Ligh active youth, and tremulous old age.
136
The task that bids thy tresses green
A thousand varied hues assume,
There colour'd like the sky serene,
And mocking here the roses bloom;
And now, in lucid volumes lightly roll'd,
Where purple clouds are starr'd with mimic gold.
A thousand varied hues assume,
There colour'd like the sky serene,
And mocking here the roses bloom;
And now, in lucid volumes lightly roll'd,
Where purple clouds are starr'd with mimic gold.
But not because thy veined leaves,
Do to the grey winged moth supply
The nutriment, whence Patience weaves
The monarch's velvet canopy;
Thro' his high domes, a splendid radiance throws,
And binds the jewell'd circlet on his brows;
Do to the grey winged moth supply
The nutriment, whence Patience weaves
The monarch's velvet canopy;
Thro' his high domes, a splendid radiance throws,
And binds the jewell'd circlet on his brows;
And not, that thus transform'd, thy boughs,
Now as a cestus clasp the fair,
Now in her changeful vestment flows,
And filets now her plaited hair;
I praise thee; but that I behold in thee
The triumph of unwearied Industry.
Now as a cestus clasp the fair,
Now in her changeful vestment flows,
And filets now her plaited hair;
I praise thee; but that I behold in thee
The triumph of unwearied Industry.
'Tis, that laborious millions owe
To thee, the source of simple food
In Eastern climes; or where the Po
Reflects thee from his classic flood;
While useless Indollnce may blush, to view
What Patience, Industry, and Art, can do.
To thee, the source of simple food
In Eastern climes; or where the Po
Reflects thee from his classic flood;
While useless Indollnce may blush, to view
What Patience, Industry, and Art, can do.
141
THE CANKERED ROSE.
As Spring to Summer hours gave way,
And June approach'd, beneath whose sway
My lovely Fanny saw the day,
I mark'd each blossom'd bower,
And bade each plant its charms display,
To crown the favour'd hour.
And June approach'd, beneath whose sway
My lovely Fanny saw the day,
I mark'd each blossom'd bower,
And bade each plant its charms display,
To crown the favour'd hour.
The favour'd hour to me so bright,
When Fanny first beheld the light,
And I should many a bloom unite,
A votive wreath to twine,
And with the lily's virgin white,
More glowing hues combine.
When Fanny first beheld the light,
And I should many a bloom unite,
A votive wreath to twine,
And with the lily's virgin white,
More glowing hues combine.
A wreath that, while I hail'd the day,
All the fond things I meant, might say
(As Indian maids their thoughts array,
By artful quipo's wove;)
And fragrant symbols thus convey
My tenderness and love.
All the fond things I meant, might say
(As Indian maids their thoughts array,
By artful quipo's wove;)
And fragrant symbols thus convey
My tenderness and love.
For this I sought where long had grown,
A rosarie I call'd my own,
Whose rich unrivall'd flowers were known
The earliest to unclose,
And where I hoped would soon be blown,
The first and fairest Rose.
A rosarie I call'd my own,
Whose rich unrivall'd flowers were known
The earliest to unclose,
And where I hoped would soon be blown,
The first and fairest Rose.
142
An infant bud there cradled lay,
Mid new born leaves; and seem'd to stay
Till June should call, with warmer ray,
It's embryo beauty forth;
Reserv'd for that propitious day
That gave my Fanny birth.
Mid new born leaves; and seem'd to stay
Till June should call, with warmer ray,
It's embryo beauty forth;
Reserv'd for that propitious day
That gave my Fanny birth.
At early morning's dewy hour,
I watch'd it in its leafy bower,
And heard with dread the sleety shower,
When eastern tempests blew,
But still unhurt my favourite flower
With fairer promise grew.
I watch'd it in its leafy bower,
And heard with dread the sleety shower,
When eastern tempests blew,
But still unhurt my favourite flower
With fairer promise grew.
From rains and breezes sharp and bleak,
Secur'd, I saw its calyx break,
And soon a lovely blushing streak
The latent bloom betray'd;
(Such colours on my Fanny's cheek,
Has cunning Nature laid.)
Secur'd, I saw its calyx break,
And soon a lovely blushing streak
The latent bloom betray'd;
(Such colours on my Fanny's cheek,
Has cunning Nature laid.)
Illusive hope! The day arriv'd,
I saw my cherish'd rose—It lived,
But of its early charms depriv'd,
No odours could impart;
And scarce with sullied leaves, surviv'd
The canker at its heart.
I saw my cherish'd rose—It lived,
But of its early charms depriv'd,
No odours could impart;
And scarce with sullied leaves, surviv'd
The canker at its heart.
There unsuspected, long had fed
A noxious worm, and mining spread,
The dark pollution o'er its head,
That drooping seem'd to mourn
Its fragrance pure, and petals red,
Destroy'd e'er fully born.
A noxious worm, and mining spread,
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That drooping seem'd to mourn
Its fragrance pure, and petals red,
Destroy'd e'er fully born.
Unfinish'd now, and incomplete,
My garland lay at Fanny's feet,
She smil'd;—ah could I then repeat
What youth so little knows,
How the too trusting heart must beat
With pain, when treachery and deceit
In some insidious form, defeat
Its fairest hopes; as cankers eat
The yet unfolded rose.
My garland lay at Fanny's feet,
She smil'd;—ah could I then repeat
What youth so little knows,
How the too trusting heart must beat
With pain, when treachery and deceit
In some insidious form, defeat
Its fairest hopes; as cankers eat
The yet unfolded rose.
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