BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES.

THE

STORY OF A BLADE OF GRASS.

"WHAT a desert-like spot would this life of ours be,
If, amid sands of sin, no glimpse could we see
Of some green-knotted garland of grass,-

Some oasis bright, a glad hope to impart,

That the sun of the sky, and the sun of the heart,
Still abide in the road we must pass."

JOHNSON BARKER.

"The golden-belted bees humm'd in the air,
The tall silk-grasses bent and waved along."

THOMAS MILLER.

"We cannot pass a blade of grass unheeded by the way, For it whispers to our thoughts, and we its silent voice obey." J. E. CARPENTER.

It has become the fashion to study "Common Things," and extort biographies from insects, birds, and flowers. I shall conform to fashion in twining a garland of literary" Brambles and Bay Leaves," and shall escape censure as to the choice of the subject for this paper, at least, because a blade of grass is the commonest of common things, and has as good and copious a biography as the rarest curiosity that has ever been placed

B

In preparing this edition for the press, a few papers have been omitted, because the lapse of time had destroyed their value. The places of those few papers have been filled up with essays written for the work. The reviewers of the first edition are not responsible for these; and if this edition is anywhere deemed worthy of notice, it is but right I should call attention to the papers on "The Rainbow" and "Fido Fides," as new, and as expounding views in which, possibly, neither my reviewers nor my readers will concur.

S. H.

BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES.

THE

STORY OF A BLADE OF GRASS.

"WHAT a desert-like spot would this life of ours be,
If, amid sands of sin, no glimpse could we see
Of some green-knotted garland of grass,-

Some oasis bright, a glad hope to impart,

That the sun of the sky, and the sun of the heart,
Still abide in the road we must pass."

JOHNSON BARKER.

"The golden-belted bees humm'd in the air,
The tall silk-grasses bent and waved along."

THOMAS MILLER.

"We cannot pass a blade of grass unheeded by the way, For it whispers to our thoughts, and we its silent voice obey." J. E. CARPENTER.

IT has become the fashion to study "Common Things," and extort biographies from insects, birds, and flowers. I shall conform to fashion in twining a garland of literary" Brambles and Bay Leaves," and shall escape censure as to the choice of the subject for this paper, at least, because a blade of grass is the commonest of common things, and has as good and copious a biography as the rarest curiosity that has ever been placed

B