Come buy, come buy my mystic flowers,
All ranged with due consideration,
And culled in fancy's fairy bowers,
To suit each age and every station.

For those who late in life would tarry,
I've Snowdrops, winter's children cold;
And those who seek for wealth to marry
May buy the flaunting Marigold.

I've Ragwort, Ragged Robins, too,

Cheap flowers for those of low condition; For Bachelors I've Buttons blue; And Crown Imperials for ambition.

For sportsmen keen, who range the lea,

I've Pheasant's Eye, and sprigs of Heather; For courtiers with the supple knee,

I've Parasites and Prince's-Feather.

For thin, tall fops, I keep the Rush,

For peasants still am Nightshade weeding; For rakes, I've Devil-in-the-Bush,

For sighing Strephons, Love-lies-Bleeding. But fairest blooms affection's hand For constancy and worth disposes, And gladly weaves at your command, A wreath of Amaranths and Roses.

V-iolet, grace of the vernal year,

Offered be thou to this spring-like reign, Is not thy tint to that Lady dear,

Whose banner of blue is the lord of the main?

I-vy, we twine of changeless green,

So

Constant for ever in leaf and bough;
may the heart of our gentle queen,
Be always verdant and fresh as now.
C-arnation, laced with many a streak

Of blooming red on its leaflets bright,
May be a type of her mantling cheek,
Blent with a brow of pearly white.
T-ansy, though humble an herb it be,
Look not upon it with scornful eye;
On virtue that lurks in low degree,

A glance should fall kind from those on high.

O-live, thy branch, dove-borne, o'er the foam,
Was a sign for the surges of death to cease;
So from the lips of our dove should come
The soft, but the sure command of peace.

R-oses of England, ceasing from fight,

Twine round her brow, in whose veins are met The princely blood those roses unite

In the veins of the noblest Plantagenet.

I-ris, to thee, the maid of the bow

That promises hope her name has given; Join then the wreath at her feet we throw, Who beams as a symbol of hope from Heaven.

A-nemone, flower of the wind, is the last

We cull, and our garland is now complete : Gentle the current and soft be the blast,

Which VICTORIA the queen of the ocean shall meet

Flowers are the brightest things which earth
On her broad bosom, loves to cherish;
Gay they appear as children's mirth,
Like fading dreams of hope they perish

In every clime, in every age,

Mankind have felt their pleasing sway; And lays to them have deck'd the page Of moralist-and minstrel gay.

By them the lover tells his tale,

They can his hopes, his fears express;
The maid, when words or looks would fail,
Can thus a kind return confess.

They wreath the harp at banquets tried,
With them we crown the crested brave:
They deck the maid-adorn the bride-
Or form the chaplets for her grave.

THE POSIE.

BY ROBERT BURNS

O Luve will venture in where it daurna weel be seen; O Luve will venture in where wisdom aince has been ; But I will down yon river rove, amang the woods sae green,

And a' to pu' a posie to my ain dear May.

The Primrose I will pu', the firstling of the year;
And I will pu' the Pink, the emblem o' my dear;
For she's the pink o' woman kind, and blooms without
a peer-

And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.

I will pu' the budding Rose, wnen Phoebus peeps in

view,

For it's like a baumy kiss o' her sweet, bonny mou';
The Hyacinth's for constancy, wi' its unchanging blue-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.

The Lily it is pure, and the Lily it is fair,
And in her lovely bosom I'll place the Lily there;
The Daisy's for simplicity, and unaffected air-

And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.

The Hawthorn I will pu', wi' its locks o' siller grey, Where, like an aged man, it stands at break of day; But the songster's nest within the bush, I winna tak

away

And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.

E

The woodbine I will pu', when the evening star is near And the diamond draps o' dew shall be her een sae clear;

The Violet's for modesty, which weel she fa's to wearAnd a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.

I'll tie the posie round wi' the silken band of love, And I'll place it in her breast, and I'll swear by a'

above,

That to my latest draught o' life the band shall ne'er

remove

And this will be a posie to my ain dear May.