THE FLOWER AND THE OAK.
IMITATED FROM THE ITALIAN.
(For the Mirror.)
A flower beheld a lofty oak,
And thus in mournful accents spoke;
“The verdure of that tree will last,
Till Autumn’s loveliest days are past,
Whilst I with brightest colours crown’d,
Shall soon lie withering on the ground.”
The lofty oak this answer made:
“The fairest flowers the soonest fade.”