Page:Floras Lexicon-1840.djvu/77

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64
FLORA’S LEXICON.

AONVOLVULUS. WHITE BINDWEED. Calystegia Sepium. Class 5, Pentandria. Order: Monogynia. This perennial twiner is a species of convolvulus, and is a very troublesome plant in the cornfield, where it is very commonly found. It is a simple flower; and probably on account of this quality it has been made the emblem of humility.

HUMILITY.

Lady, I dwell in the shady wood,
Beneath the ancient trees;
And I hang o’er gnarled bole and branch
My dainty tapestries.

I lie on my couch of arrowy leaves,
And slumber with closed eye,
And only look out from my curtain’d bower,
When the sun is rising high.

O’er bank and hedge, like a fairy camp,
Gleam tent-like flowers of mine;
And elvish folk lie basking there,
All through the noontide shine.

I love the river’s sedgy bank,
Where purple loose-strife bends,
Near fleur-de-lis, and meadow-sweet,
All those dear ancient friends.

I love to twine around them all,
And with fond arms to cling
Around the cluster’d stems and flowers
In many a mazy ring.

Twamley