BETA

’Mid scatter’d foliage, pale and sere,1
Thy kindly floweret cheers the gloom ;2
And offers to the waning year3
The tribute of its golden bloom.4
Beneath November’s clouded sky,5
In chill December’s stormy hours,6
Thy blossom meets the traveller’s eye,7
Gay as the buds of summer bowers.8
Flower of the dark and wintry day !9
Emblem of friendship ! thee I hail !10
Blooming when others fade away,11
And brightest when their hues grow
pale.”
12