IRCH. Betula Alba. Class 21, Monœcia. Order: Polyandria. There is an elegance in the general appearance of the birch which fully justifies the poet’s fancy, and entitles it to the appellation he has given it, of “Lady of the Woods.” In every season, and under all circumstances, it is a lovely object; nothing can exceed the tender hue of its vernal leaves, as they wave to and fro in the sunshine. In summer, perhaps, it loses something of its beauty, as its bright tints then subside into a more sober green; still it preserves its gracefulness of aspect. In autumn it almost more than regains what it lost in summer; whilst winter, which deprives most other vegetable productions of their charms, by displaying more fully the slight silvery stem and delicate ramifications of the birch, seems but to invest it with new attractions.
GRACEFULNESS.
The new-waken’d buds in our pathway unfold;
For spring has come forth, and the bland southern breeze
Is telling the tale to the shrubs and the trees;
Which, anxious to show her
The duty they owe her,
Have deck’d themselves gaily in em’rald and gold.
Is yon birch, that is waving so graceful and tall:
How tender yet bright is the tint that is flung
O’er its delicate spray, which so lightly is hung,
That like breeze of the mountain,
Or gush of the fountain,
It owns not of rest or of slumber the thrall.
