345 Of beaux and belles displays the glittering throng;
        And soft airs fan them, as they roll along.

        Where frowning Snowden bends his dizzy brow
        O’er Conway, listening to the surge below;
        Retiring LICHEN climbs the topmost stone,
350 And ’mid the airy ocean dwells alone.—­
        Bright shine the stars unnumber’d o’er her head,
        And the cold moon-beam gilds her flinty bed;
        While round the rifted rocks hoarse whirlwinds breathe,
        And dark with thunder sail the clouds beneath.—­
355 The steepy path her plighted swain pursues,
        And tracks her light step o’er th’ imprinted dews,
        Delighted Hymen gives his torch to blaze,
        Winds round the craggs, and lights the mazy ways;

[Lichen. l. 349.  Calcareum.  Liver-wort.  Clandestine Marriage.  This plant is the first that vegetates on naked rocks, covering them with a kind of tapestry, and draws its nourishment perhaps chiefly from the air; after it perishes, earth enough is left for other mosses to root themselves; and after some ages a soil is produced sufficient for the growth of more succulent and large vegetables.  In this manner perhaps the whole earth has been gradually covered with vegetation, after it was raised out of the primeval ocean by subterraneous fires.]

Sheds o’er their secret vows his influence chaste, 360 And decks with roses the admiring waste.

        High in the front of heaven when Sirius glares,
        And o’er Britannia shakes his fiery hairs;
        When no soft shower descends, no dew distills,
        Her wave-worn channels dry, and mute her rills;
365 When droops the sickening herb, the blossom fades,
        And parch’d earth gapes beneath the withering glades. 
        —­With languid step fair DYPSACA retreats;
        “Fall gentle dews!” the fainting nymph repeats;
        Seeks the low dell, and in the sultry shade
370 Invokes in vain the Naiads to her aid.—­

[Dypsacus. l. 367.  Teasel.  One female, and four males.  There is a cup around every joint of the stem of this plant, which contains from a spoonful to half a pint of water; and serves both for the nutriment of the plant in dry seasons, and to prevent insects from creeping up to devour its seed.  See Silene.  The Tillandsia, or wild pine, of the West Indies has every leaf terminated near the stalk with a hollow bucket, which contains from half a pint to a quart of water.  Dampier’s Voyage to Campeachy.  Dr. Sloane mentions one kind of aloe furnished with leaves, which, like the wild pine and Banana, hold water; and thence afford necessary refreshment to travellers in hot countries.  Nepenthes had a bucket for the same purpose at the end of every leaf, Burm.  Zeyl. 41. 17.]