Stray Leaves of a Naturalist Author:David Ross Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 15 ADDKESS DROSERA, OR SUNDEW. 0 plant all clad in a ruby stole, Awake by thy magic my whole soul, And draw out the dormant fancy pow'rs, That ... more »have no life till I see thy flow'rs. My ear would catch up the slightest sound That may be heard on thy enchanted ground, And my thoughts and sp'rit would try to soar To the bright regions on heaven's shore, And, having commun'd for a season there, Come back strengthened by that purer air That circles so freely everywhere, Feeding the plants which rejoice in the light Which e'er makes their leaves and fruits so bright. Through thee, part of a mysterious plan, May I exhibit to my fellow-man That even the very meanest weeds Are fraught with a store of precious seeds Of such potency and virtuous use As must cheer, if there be no abuse ; So that, once tasted, searched out and known, A germ of vigorous growth is sown, And waking up, Like the prophet old, One sees stores at hand and waxes bold, Journeys on for many days to come, Heaping joys, though he cannot take their sum, And though straightened by a narrow span, He works and does all the good he can. D. R- What a cldll and desolate region is this swamp, the abode of croaking frogs, newts, miasmata, and pestilence—a place in which there "is no form or comeliness, or any beauty that we should desire it," a superficial observer might say ; but let another but open his eyes intelligently, and explore it a little, and he will soon redeem it from the vile and undeserved slander thrown upon it. There will always be this difference among men, because they are individually formed with minds of different calibre, and with tastes and an aptitude for the several pursuits of intelligent natures as various as are t...« less