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•v.. -^ ■ ^ ■V'

J^^i^r."-

METRICAL EFFUSIONS,

VERSES

ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.

I crave not Phoebus leave his sacred cell.

To bind my brows with fresh Aonian bays ;

Be such their meed, who, tuning sweetest lays.

By Tempe sit, or Aganippe well.

Dnunmotid,

Wootibtitige t

PRINTED AND SOLD BT S. LODER, BOOKSELLER; SOLD ALi^O

BY R. BALDWIN, LONDON.

1812.

THE NEW YORK

LICUBRARY

165406

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

1900.

JDebicatorp &Qtmrt.

lioSCOE! wilt thou forgive iiie, whea I claim
Tiius publicly thy friendship, and aspire
After attention to niv humble Ivrc

Beneath the shelter of thy honour'd name ?

Pleas'd to encourage, and averse to blame
The meanest votary of the tuneful choir,
Thou wilt not bid me in despair retire.

Though slow my progress in the road to fame.
Whetlier the simple wreath thus idly twin'd

Shall fade neglected, or regarded bloom
I leave to taste like thine ; and if the mind

AVhich geniu4 and the muses all illume
Deride me not, no puny critic's dart
Shall change my course, or ever reach my heart.

*tT-

atitem0etmnn

These VERSES^ to which the Authour pi^esumeg
to assign no higher name, not to affix his own, were
written under the impulse of his natural feelings, not
for the gratificatiofi of his vanity ; and they are now
published at the desire of a few friends, but not in the
hope of interesting the public. He lias therefore had
but a very small impression taken off, for the eocpi^ess
purpose of avoiding the notice of those on whose indul'
gence he has no claim.

GoHtcnt?*

PagK
PAINS of MEMORY - 3

Poetical Epistle to A — L . - - - - 25

Sonnet ----•---_« 3^

To My Lyre .--.--«- 3A

To Wni. Koscoe, Esq. -------37

The Caledonian Adieu ....... 40

The Smile ofHer I Love 13

Weel Timed Daffin 4;»

To Julia 4a

A Winter Piece to Friendsliip ----- .5u

Stanzas on perusing Mrs. Tighe's Psyche - - - .'i^

Response to the three valedictory Stanzas subjoin'd to Scotfs

Lady of the Lake ---... .53

Sonnet to G. D. L. 61

The Exile's Return t^t

Jane Ashford .-..-... ^5

To the Evening Star -- -74

To Maria --------- 7y

Stanzas to an Infant, ---.-...g^
Hymn to the Deity --.---- g/

My Lucy 92

Sonnet to Lord Fingai ------- ga

To a Friend on the death of her Father - . - - 97

A Full-biown Rose 101

The Flights of Fancy - 104

"Near yonder Bower by Fancy drest" - - - - lOg

vni

Page
To Lucy in Heaven - - - - - . - -111

Stanzas on the Anniversary of the Abolition of the African'

Slave Trade ----_-.. 1J4

The Harmony of the Creation - - - - - - 119

Imitation of Burns - - - -- - - -123

Sonnet -------__. 125

Whigs and Tories --..... 125

Sonnet ------._.. 131

To Maria on the approach of Winter - - . . i3g

To Patriotism, an Ode ----__ 133

Stanzas to the Memory of Dr. Leyden - - - . 145

The Butterfly's Death 150

Ode to an .<^lian Harp --..-_ 155

Stanzas to a Friend --.--_. jgi

An Address to the Bible Society - - - - - 166

Epitaph -----.->. 171

Sonnet to my Daughter ----._. 173

Retrospective Stanzas ------ - 174

Prince HoePs Song ----..-. 177

Dove Dale -------,. igQ

Stanzas on Woman - . . - . . -182

Stanzas in answer to the preceding .... 157

To an old and tried Friend ----.. 191

To a Parent on the death of her Child - - - - 193

Sonnet --■»•----., gQo

An Elegy -201

To Walter Scott, Esq. ------. gQg

Valedictory Stanzas. ----... 209

Verses on reading Hay ley's Life of Cowper - - - 21 J

Caledonie ------•«. 215

The Thistle ----.... ^2?

THE PAmS OF MEMORY.

THE

PAINS OF MEMORY.

ja fvaqtmnu

jMemory ! mysterious principle, whose power

Can ope alike the source of joy, or wo ;
Can gild with " gladsome ray *' the passing hour.

Or bid the starting tear of anguish flow :
Fain would my mournful song aspire to show

What keen regret, what deep remorse is thine;
How in the wreath which decks thine awful brow.

The cypress with the willow should entwine,
Alas! my plaintive lyre, a gloomy theme is mine I

Far difierent visions happier bards have seen.

Far different lays have ha{^ier poets sung ;
And on those soul-enchanting sounds I ween

Full many a captivated ear hath hung.
Nor would I Sfium Ibe lyre to nature rtrung.

Or deem the song of Memory's joys untrue ^
For oft, ere anguish had my bosom wrung.

Did former hour$ recur to fiiacy's view,
Ib gaudier colours drest, with graces ever new.

Yes» MeflMnr! m thy iktty mmd |n^^

Some pleasiiig psssages way ckarm the eye;
Tbe g ii ldeM rccfdb of our euriicr nge

May bring aoac 4wm>s ♦f fetwMp Bcdvc j#y ;
But B tbit pleaMure tbn wilbwft alkiy I

Or dkK» Ml c<«tnBt tunlbtt blm to w» I
But lew, 1 far, cau tbink af bows g«K by,

nor wmmss ■ 1MV iMurts cqhmibciiqb s

Grant tkzt nor vice, nor folly wounds the hearty

Yet various feelings may regret inspire ;
The agonizing tear may often start.

To see departed friendship's flame expire.
The mother mourns her child* the son his sire.

Once loved on earth, now numbered with the dead ;
The weefHug maiden's trembling steps f«tiie

From the green sod where rests her lover's head :-^
Who hath not moum'd in vain for joys that long have fled I

To meditate, with retrospective glance.

On vanish'd transports of gay hours of pleasure.
Our present happiness may well enhance.

As former ^ains increase our present treasure.
Benignant time's insensible erasure

May nutigate the heart«&lt pai^ of sorrow ;
And from the cheering view of well qpent leisure.

Some gleams of hope the mind may justly borroif
To usher in the dawn of heaven's eternal morrow*

For, can the wiles of art, the grasp of power.

Or all the fiends which blast the mind's repose.
Snatch the rich reliques of a well spent hour.

Or quench the light it gives at life's dark close 1
No — when the lamp of life but faintly glows.

E'en when the trembling spirit wings her flight.
Conscience shall blunt departing nature's throes.

And smiling hope shall pour, with lustre bright.
Around her heaven-ward path a stream of living light.

Such were the sounds, which, on my youthful ear.

In strains of harmony and rapture fell ;
When Jlogers bade his song, melodious, clear.

In sweetest accents Memory's pleasures tell ;
Did not my glowing bosom feel the spell

Of hb celestial theme? My raptur'd thought
Would oft, by him inspired, with fondness dwell

On hours for ever fled, with pleasure fraught
By Memory's magic power from infant pastime brought.

Oh f sweetest Minstrel ! since to thee bdoD|^ .

The gift of verse, the poet's art divine ;
Why should thy silence thus the muses wrong)

Why lies unstrung a harp so sweet as thinel
** Oh ! wake ouce more V* pour forth the flowing line^

Assert the honours thou hast justly won :
** Oh ! wake (mce more !" invoke the favoring nine.

And ere thy yet remaining sand be run,
Beqsleodently shine forth like the meridian sun*

But, though thy pleasures. Memory, justly claim

The votive tribute of the minstrel's song ;
Tet keen r^;ret, despair, and blushing shame.

Horror and madness too, to thee belong.
Of tortnring fiends a fell relentless throng

Attend thy course, and goad the anguish'd mind^
Recal the hour when vice betray'd to wrong.

Anticipate the doom to guilt assigned,
.And to each glimpse of hoft the wandering senses blind.

And shall thy )4«ani^ then alon* mtpif^

The poet's song t sMl fxaty^ sportive, gat»
To notes of joy (ecstatic tune the lyre,

UnmindAil that tlioie Pieasiiret soon decay I
FoffetIM thai \ht briglitest, happiest day

Mustoftesi, by mnfortane otvteast.
Call forth the tear for monwnts passM away>

For hopes disipers'd hy dkHi|ipofaitmetit's bis^
And pleMing «peUa4istolv'd^ wUcii fancy said Bhvnld ksSL

And do 9M Themes lihe these deserve the lay 1

Yes; though u ugw i ie fti i, gKKHny> and fwlom;
Scorned Iqr the yomis* «uiotic*d by the gay»

Who spofft eaia|)t«i^d in the gkming mont
Oflife: yet haaits theva we who may not scom

l%e mig wUsh hMs the tear of |Hty stait ;
Hearts whkh h«v« deeply Mt the nMkliBg dnim

Which MeaMty c«a thras^ cvtfy Fftia dbrt;
Va sani n^ wiPf thav vaNV twnai flrafls a

Not broken tiio' Mibdoed ; for I hiite knowm

The day of smnhiBe, Ittd the night of glocttn;
Have seen the stal* of love» wftiich brightly akonc^

Descend in Death, my Prm^Kcts to lUnnM
No more. If of«r some unfcnlptnr^d Tomb

The drops of h<q>de8» angnish ye have tbed;
I well can weep with yon your hickless doom.

For Sic, widi whom I hop'd life's path to tread»
Rests in ber sikut grave, companion of the dead!

Dear sainted Spirit ! wHiei^esoe'^er thy b<Mne,

How gladly to thy^presence would I fly;
With thee tiuongh boundless fieldft of edier roam^

And praise with tiiee the source of love on high.
Blest Shade ! m thy refined society.

Nor pain» nor sorrow, nor remorse is Jcnown».
Bi!it glory, blisa^ and immortaMty;

For transient life^ and early death atone:
A heavenly prize is drinew an«aitUy totmy own^

Are there frlu> moom for friendship known no more ?

For cold neglect, unmerited disdain T
Are there who weep adversity's dark hour ?

Reluctant vassab iu nii«ifortune*s train ?
Are there lor evil past who sigh in vain,

Harass'd with grief, worn out with toiling care?
IVhoe'er ye are, whose bosoms throb with pain.

Deem not your own distress beyond compare.
But leant from heavier griefs your lighter load to bear«

ilapless the lover in his nymph's disdaiii.

Hapless the mariner by tempests driven.
Hapless the cripf^e bent with age and pain.

Hapless the blind amid the light of heaven ;
More hapless still the wretch who long has striven,

And o'er his fierce desires no battle won;
But, Oh ! how hapless be, whose heart is riven

With conscious guilt ! on whom the glorious sun
Shines with unwelcome ray, and telb of mischief done!

Go, turn thine eye on Rome's heroic pagt»

And learn how Regulus, in days of yore^
The fiercest brunt of Carthaginian rage.

With tranquil soul, and mien unaltered bore.
Or rather mark, where, bath'd in hmnan gore.

The infuriate Bonner eyes the flaming pile ;
And learn that conscious innocence has power

To meet the bitterest pains with cheerful smile :
To share the felon's fate, and e'en exult the while;

Far different views yon gloomy cell shall yield.

Where, doom'd to die, th' ensanguin'd murd'rer lies;
No conscious innocence his breast can shield

From horror's sharp and speechless agonies.
Draw near; contemplating with pitying eyes

The chilly dews which bathe his humid brow ;
Mark from his breast what sobs convulsive rise.

What briny torrents from his eydids flow :
Tokens of dark despair and overwhelming wo.

Ok! ny, vktf pMv ifcK Innia kb iKUt,

Tk McBMj brings *R^[Rl» wfmaaat, mad
Her diraU Hmm aU l» MMcs diiB ;

SkttnmimdtB him tm At gloomy wroad.
¥?heie cnllK iwicd till ^ke tmdkr

B J iBrt of sold wfaned to

Tke ^RidftA ^ecdi of Ikit teii^Mlswu B^ ;

Tbe kowbiir iMib tkroBgk ksfleas kiuckes passw
Aod fiwrty ^limaifi to kb kivr nig i^gbt

Tke cooscHMu stan^ no more in kistie kdgb^
Bat pale and wai^ as aouBoiis of «o ;

Tke dntattl nik^ ckKk iiew tolk tke fljigihl
Of Ingenig tkae: — tflilldaik, and daiker grow

But hark ( a foot spproaches: — imw hk hvctasi

Alternate throbs with horror, and with fe«r:—
Then, springing forth, by dtmioiit>'t m po«iest'd.

He seems again with agony to hear
His victims dying groan appal his ear«--«

Blood-eUll'd : with hair erects he stands aghasit
Again the murmnring gale sweeps by so drear:

Another groan, still deeper than the last !
Anodier deeper still ! — and now the scene b past f

But think not Memory's pains exhausted yet :-—

Led by her hand^ with haggard eye he seet
The spot, where once, a stranger to reglrelv

Each passing Hanr and changing Scene coidd pleaae.
Lo ! where, end[>a60Hi'd by snnronnding tnes.

The neatly whiie-wadi'd cottage strikes his qw;
That dear abode ef innocence and ease ;

The aoene of k^ipiest hours, long sinoe gone by^
Now lasesw his sight* and pranipU Urn ftnUiV >l^

Once more transported there on fancy's wing.

He seems to taste of joys for ever flown;
Once more he hears the tuneful warblers sing :— >

Ah ! never on that favorite cot has shone
A ray more bright : — nor ever yet were known

The chiming Bells more charmingly to sound
From yon tall tower, with ivy over-grown;

He seems to hear, in reverie profound,
Tlie call to prayer and praise of all the village round.

Forgot his crimes, his destiny, his woes ;

He seems once more to join his early friends ;
And, as the pious precept mildly flows

From reverend pastor's lips, an ear he lends :
And now and then a wistful glance he sends

Towards the known Seat, where, modestly array'd,
In sabbath garb so trim, as wont, attends

His much lov'd Anne ; his blue-eyed cottage maid.
The hamlet's fairest flower ! the boast of rural shade I

The service o*er, their devious path they take.

Where chance or inclination guides their way ;
Through winding lane, green mead, or flowery brake.

Or by the murmuring brook they fondly stray.
And watch the trembHng sun-beams fitful play

Through the cool shelter of the aspen's bough :
And while he taUis of love in accents gay.

The timid maiden hears his frequent vow.
With hesitatii^ sigh, deep blush, and pensive brow.

Delightful hours ! yet stay enchanting spell I

Oh ! banish truth and hoiror for a while ;
And let hb fancy some few moments dwell

On dreams of happiness, which may beguile
His sense of wo, and bid his dungeon smile i

It must not be : the ja^r^s hollow tread
Once more recals the thought of "durance vile;'*

Each feiry picture fancy sketdi'd b fled ;

Peace, innocence b gone} and hope itself bdeaiL

Horrid tnunhioii! tarn tbcre now be nam'd

A nptikt crawiing on this eardily ball;
Uownrer vile^ dkhonoiir^d, asd delain'd,

Wbom tiifleiing worse Aaa tbii cao e'er befal I
Ob! memory! why tbiH oruelly lecal

Life's happiest hours] why paint past sceoea so ihh:?
Why add to him who drinks the cup of gall»

Sorrow to sorrow, Frenay to deq»ir1
CeasTy cmel Memory ! oease ; m merey kam to qpiiv.

Now« taming fiom the msnderer^s eell, surrey

Where yonder bark> obedient to the gak»
From Britain's shore to Jackson's distant bay.

Conveys tibe wretch who next demands my tab.
Oh ! while the fareeae expands the glist^nmg 8aii»

Let fancy catch the note, which, murmoring lam
Floats on the ur ; it seems a {daintive wail ;

It tells of heart-felt grief, despair, and wo»
As thus its mnumfiil 9ccenli ttenudottsly flow.

And do these swimming «yes indeed behold.

For the last liqae dear England's sea-girt shore ?
Ye lofty cliffs ! reflecting streams of gold — .

And.nuist 1 see your glittering heights no more)
Must I in endless agony deplore.

At dreidful disllDce from my native land.
The loss oi Fiieiids ! of Home ? If life were o'er

Twere well. Then welcome d^ath I thy icy hand
Alone cm 4smt the ktsiot which )>inds to Albion's strand.

Ceaae, Cease ye Inreezefr ! swe^l not thus the sail.

Nor hasten thou thus my course, thou rolling wave !
Ah ! hear a Female exile's plaintive talcw

Her folly's victim, and her passion's slave !
O that I i»ow m%ht find a watery grav^

Discharg'd of all my crimes the dreadful debt ;
The peaceful tenant of some coral ^ave :

I might «t length, perchance, my woes forgei^
Or USf&i HUtixoryB store of torment md negret*

Yet, even then, hard fate, alas ! it were

That, thus reposmg m unhallow'd ground.
These mouldVing bones, remote from Albion's air.

Should sink unwept in Ocean's deep profound.
No mourning relatives to gather round.

And watchful stand to catch my parting sigh ;
Excluded from the sacred churchyard's bound.

Where Father, Mother, Sisters, Brothers lie.
Who o'er my poor remains shall cast a pityuig eye ?

And you, my Children ! must you hear with shame.

From many a wanton tongue, your Mother's crime-
Yet do not learn to curse her guilty name.

For though, transported to a foreign clime.
By force she leaves you in your beauty's prime.

Yet still for you she sheds the frequent tear ;
Nor e'er can distance, or the lapse of time.

Or guilty fetters, cause that shame or fear
Shall from your Mother's heart efface her children deaf:

But, farewell England ! and, alas ! farewell !

My friendless offspring ! from my fate bewaire !
Avoid the crime by which your Parent fell»

For thus the sacred oracles declare :
"Thou shalt not steal,'' Oh ! then suppress with care

Each lawless wish ; and seek to Him for might.
Whose gracious ear attends the Orphan's prayer :

You yet may stand approved in his dread sight.
And steer to Heaven's calm port your dangerous course
aright.

Closed be the Convict's Lay ! But let thine ear

Attention lend to notes of further wo.
And stray with mo, when twilight time is near.

Where Hannah's slighted reliques sleep below
Th' untrodden heap of earth ; and thou shalt know

Her bright beginning, her unhallow'd end ;
And should a frown of censure- cloud thy brow

For Virtue lost ; — ^yet still attention lend,
.Since Thou thyself art frail, and may'st like her offends

r
B 2

" For virtue lost, and ruin'd man I mourn^**

Thus, Beattie ! iiow'd thy hermit's solemu stmin.
Andy as tliat strain to £dwin*s ear was bonie^

His guileless bosom felt accordant pain.
Oh ! could that plaintive sage but raise i^aki

His warning voice ! and sing the the hapless maid.
Seduc'd by love from virtue's spotless train ;

How would the Minstrel mourn, as he sunpey'd.
So sweet, so fair a flower so prematurely fade.

Among the rustic beauties, passing fair.

Whose native bloom no tints of art excel.
What maid with Hannah Meadows co«ld compare!

Or could the neighbouring maii^et-town, where 4well
Accomplished nymphs, produce one shiukig beUe,

Whose face, whose ^gure, Hannah's might sniyafis!
Oft would her youtirful bosom vainfy ^weU,

As she beheld, reflected in the glass,
Charms prais'd by every swain^ and owB^dby MAoy ftlMB>

Oh Vanity ! thou sobtle, powerful foe !

Who can withstand thy soul-deceiving wile 1
If e'en to courtly danes thy accents flow

Unchecked, in rustic intercourse thy guile
Can raise in many a daiusel's cheek the smile

Of conscious l>eauty ; and her fluttering heart
« Fresh hopes of conquest meditates tlie while :

No more she thinks that nature's cbarms impart
Alone sufficient grace, without the aid of art.

Who now each Sabbath strikes the wandering sight

Of every envious lair, and gazing swain I
For neatly printed gown, a robe of white

Is now aissumed : for cottage bonnet plain,
A modish hat. Ah ! Maiden idly vain !

Not half so lovely dost thou now appear.
As when the simplest of the simple train :

Those who most love thee, now, with anxious fear»
Review thy guileless days and scarce suppress the tear.

But Hannah saw no danger, tliough her sii<*
With prudent caution and forbidding frown,

Condemn'd the frequent visits of the squirt.
Who to the Manor-house came lately down.

A Profligate ! who sought for no renown
' But such as vice and dissipation yield ;

Who, train'd to fraud and flattery in town.

Knew every thought the Maiden's sigh reveal'd :

Against a foe like this how vain was Caution's shield !

I may not paint the guileful, cruel art.

Which, under semblance vile of love and truth,
Ensnar'd poor Hannah's unsuspecting heart ;

And, void of honour, and of gentler ruth.
Blasted her charms : with treacherous poison smooth

Tainted her bosom to deceit unknown :
The Maiden fell. Let inexperienc'd youth

Beware her fate. Ah ! could the anguish'd groan.
Which rends her tortur'd breast, for her ofience atone.

Here too shall Memory, with avenging hand,

Unix)l the record of dejjarted years :
How shall the hapless sufferer's heart withstand

Reiterated pangs, when thus appears
Frightful tlie prospect round ! With fruitless tears

To mourn for honour, and for virtue fled
Oh Memory ! is thy work ! Arm VI by her fears,

Her hand arrests her heart. Oh lightly tread
Beside the grass-green turf which marks poor Hannah's
bed.

By the road side, beneath yon bushy thorn.

Which scents with fragrance mild the vernal gale ;
Victmi of guilt, despair, and ruthless scorn,

Is laid the loveliest blossom of the vale.
Ill-fated Maiden! though thy artless tale

Shall many a sympathetic bosom rend.
Or prompt one sigh, let justice still prevail.

And, whilst o'er thy dkhonour'd grave we bend.
With horror we must view thy rash, thy frantic end.

£*en now, though lovely beams the lunar ray.

Through quivering branches, on thy grave so green :
No villager benighted dares to stray

•

To that sad spot ; for Fancy there has been
So scar'd, as stories go, that she hath seen

At midnight's silent hour, in vesture white,
A shadowy wanderer of unearthly mien.

Whose hollow groans the ))asseuger affright,
And hurry through the gloom of Winter's lonely night.

A POETICAL. EPISTLE

In life's gfty iDorn^ wben pleasing dreams
Of Love^ and such romantic themes ;
With shady groves, and porting streams'

Delight thy sex ;
Wliile hof^es, and fears, and endless schemes

Their minds perplex ;

Wilt thou, fair Anna, condescend
To listen to an humble friend.
Who, doom'd with ceaseless toil to wend

Life's tliomy way ;
Presumes, though fearing to offend, '

To frame a Lay.

A simple Lay ! which critic's ear.
With cool disdain would surely hear ;
But which, addressed to friend sincere.

Though quaint in style ;
May gain the meed to Friendship dear.

The approving smile.

Not mine the lot of happier Bard,
Whose loftier verse has nobly dared
To emulate the high reward

The wreath of Fame !
Who on Parnassus' Mount hath shared

A Poet's name.

Such was the Bard, whose fairy page
Could once our every thought engage.
The latest Mmstrei of the age

Of feudal ire,
'* Ere Policy sedate and sage "

Had quenched its fire.

Hast thou forgot, my Friend ! the hour.
When, in tlie Highland Chieftain^ bower,
" Where the Clematis, favoured flower,'^

' Its beauties shed ;
We owu'd the Poet's magic power

Whose page we read.

To savage Roderick, fierce and brave.
Meet tribute of applause we gave.
When, lingering near the Goblin's Cave,

His Ellen's seat
He felt his heart, her beauty's slave,

Relenting beat.

The noble Douglas, truly gnat.
With Royal JameSy "whose will was t$^
\f lio left hi^ court and regal state

In form a Knight ;
Hope, fear, and joy, by turns creale,

w A wild delight.

Bat chief, fair Ellen ! honour's child.
Ingenuous^ noble, cheerful, mild;
Queen of the fairy scene so wild.

And Malcolm Graeme,
The gallant youth on whom she smilVl,

Our interest claim.

Such themes as these, my friend, could dieat
The flight of time, wlien, pleas'd to meet.
And spend an hour, alas, how fleet !

Around the urn.
To talk, to read, to laugh, to eat.

Each in their tum«

Aod trust me pleasures such at tfaede»
When*er we can 'tis wise to seize :
Tbe seliish iieart they cannot f>lease.

Which beats by rule ;
May go and take its doll degrees

In Zeno's School*

. There are who travel Life's dull road,*
Whom discontent, with ceaseless goad^
May prompt io murmur at their load

Of care and wo ;
Regardle^ of the good bestow'd

On all below.

Let us, my Friend, with joy survey
The prospect, gilded by the ray
Of smiling hope, and fancy gay ;

A lovely pair I
Desponding gloom shall flee away

And black despair.

*** Whoe'er has travelled Lite's duU round."«^fceiutane»

Believe me Amie : — ^though / have strivea.
On Life's rough ocean tempest driveiiy
To bear the heaviest stroke that heaven

Inflicts on man ;
I will not aught witlield or given

Presume to scan.

And now, though I must oft retrace
Those griefs which time can ne'er efiace^
I'm not so selflshy bliud, or base^

As to repine.
That She has jom'd the angelic race.

Who once was mine.

Far happier lot is Her's, I ween.
Partaker of that glorious scene.
Where Gates of Pearl, with dazzling sheen.

The path disclose
To joys immortal, bliss serene.

And calm repose.

Yes, I have sufifer'd much below !
Yet has it been my lot to know
The comfort khiduess can bestow.

The friendly tear,
Caird forth in sympathetic glow.

From heart sincere.

To thee, my Friend ! may Heaven assign
A more auspicious fate than mine :
And pure Religion's light divine

Thy steps attend.
Cheering with influence benign

Thy journey's end.

SONNET.

The Poet's Song, ray kind, indulgent Friend !

Should flow devoid of tiction, or of art.

The honest tribute of a grateful heart.
When iie presumes to bid thy ear attend.
For surely, Mary, Thou couldst never lend

A fav'ring ear to Flattery's servile part ;

And Slander's base, malignant, envious dart.
Thy generous breast would proudly reprehend.

Yet from the heart which long has prov'd thy worth.
Candour like thine will condescend to hear

The voice of Praise : — 'tis Virtue calls it forth.
And Heaven approves it, for it flows sincere.

No selfish feelings give this tribute birth.
Thy kmduess claims it, Tiutli records it here.

TO MY LYRE.

Fond plaything of my brighter hours 1
Vibrating once in notes of gladness.

By flatf ring Hope once crown'd with flowers.
Thy master's beurt now sinks in «idness !

That heart which once in deepest gloom,
Wateh'd for a more auspicious morrow ;

Now deeply mourns its final doom,
Uumingi'd grief^ and endless sorrow.

O ! then, if, in some liappier day.
Thy chords awoke Ihe soug of pleasure ;

Now pour a soul-dissolving lay,

A mournful note, a plaintive measure.

If ever this presumptuous hand

Crown'd thee witli flowers, those flowers are 6d<
Henceforth, by misery's stem command.

Be with congenial cypress shaded !

No more, at Autumn's placid eve.

Shall softest zephyrs round thee playing.

With dreams of fancied bliss deceive
A heart on which despair is preying.

But, pendant on some leafless tree.

Through which November's blasts are moiimiiis^
Thy hollow sounds a dirge shall be

For hours of joy no more returning.

If, at that hour, by fortune led.
Forgetful Julia should pass by thee ;

May howling gusts, portentous, dread.
With saddest notes of grief supply thee !

Who knows but from that plaintive sound
Her heart some sympathy may borrow ;

And, on that brow where anger frown'd.
Be seen some transient gleam of sorrow 1

Yet, O my Lyre I if down that cheek,
One soft relenting tear be stealing ;

In softest tones of pity speak.

And blunt each harsher, keener feeling.

For still to me her peace is dear.

Still tliis ** distracted brain" remembers

The hours when bright-eyed Hope was near.
And fium'd expiring passion's embers.

Nor can those embers ever die ; —

Though every dream of Hope be ended ;

Stiil, Jaiia ! thou shalt prompt the sigh
Of tenderest love and sorrow blended !

W^ ROSCOE, ESQ

'^ My lov'd, my honour'd^ much respected Friend V

Accept this simple, tributary Lay :
If RoscoB deign a willing ear to lend^

Fain would my Lyre its artless homage pay.
Oh ! could this hand but faithfully pourtray

Those feelings of the heart which prompts the song.
Then o'er the chords with rapture would it stray

With no dishonour to the tuneful throng.
And wake its warbling notes, harmonious, rich and strong.

c 3

What varied honours shed around thy name

A brilliant lustre, gentle, and benign ;
" Above all Greek, above ail Roman fame,"

A nobler meed, a richer prize is thine.
Beneath the burning equinoctial line

The Negro tribes shall grateful sing thy praise ;
Their children's children shall in concert join

To hail the Bard who pour'd his generous lays.
And turn'd on **j^fric8 Wrongs" a nation's pitying gaze,

Widi Poesy shall History unite.

To crown with civic wreath her favoured son.
Whose classic pen again recals from night

Statesmen and Bards who once in splendour shone.
Proud Florence boasts Lorenzo's fame her own.

From Tiber's banks old Rome exults to hear
How learning spread around her Leo's throne,

A glory to succeeding ages dear.
Which nations yet unborn shall gratefully revere.

When heaven born Liberty on Gallic skies

Open'd the dawn of Freedom's golden day,
Twas thine to sing the *' d^y-star's'* glorious rise :

The Patriot's warmth inspired the Poet's lay.
Though now, beneath stern despotism's sway.

That star be sunk in deepest shades of night ;
Some future hour shall feel its cheering ray.

Some future Bard shall hail the joyful sight.
And many a "vine-clad hill" shall hear him with delight.

No more shall Cowper, on the banks of Ouse,

Resume in virtue's sacred cause the Lyre ;
No more, by sweeping Nith, shall Scotia's Muse

The ardent song of Co^la's Bard inspire.
Yet on fair Mersey's side the tuneful choir

Amid their Roscoe's groves shall prompt the strain;
Oh may they never from those shades retire,

But every grace and every virtue reign.
And shed their brightest beams on Allerton's domain.

,rHE

CALEDONIAN ABIEU,

P'arewell, Caledonia ! adieu to thy bowers !
Gay scenes of my cliildiiood, once lovely and fair !
When Hope sweetly smiling beguiled the light hours.
As I thoughtlessly rov'd on tlie banks of the Ayr.

Farewell, Caledonia ! the darling of nature !
Long, long shall my memory thy beauties retain :
Shall dwell with delight on each prominent feature.
The mountain, the valley, the grove,, and the plain.

Thy b(dd craggy mountains confronting the sky.
Thy straths and thy glens, where I often have stray'd.
In sweet retrospection shall rise to the eye.
And Fancy my visions romantic shall aid.

Though the star of my destiny o'er the wide ocean,
From friends, home, and country, direct me afar ;
Caledonia may claim and shall have my devotion.
And oft will I think of my friends ** far awa/'

On the banks of the Ganges, or Plata's proud stream.
Though I wander unconscious their beauties among ;
My own dear native Ayr, still my favorite theme.
Shall partake of my praise and enliven my song.

Sweet stream ! on whose banks, in my infancy roaming,
I hail'd the first dreams of my fanciful mind ;
When the music of morning, the silence of gloamin.
My soul to the witchery of Nature resigned.

O blythc were the moments, and jocund the hours,
Wheu the frolics of boyhood could rapture impart ;
But I ne'er shall revisit those hallowed bowers.
Where I felt the warm glow of an innocent heart.

Yet still, Caledonia ! my fervent devotion.
The prayer of my heart shall for ever be thine !
Though between us there roll the wild waves of the oceau,
They but heighten the flood of affection like mine.

THE SMIJLE OF HER I L/OVE,

1 could endure with steadfast mind

Relentless Fortune's frown severe ;
If gentle Love were left behind.

My drooping anxious heart to cheer.
For ne'er should Fortune's stem decree

With doubts my tranquil bosom move,
If pitying heaven would leave to me

The soothing smile of Her I love.

{ could behold with silent scorn

Each fickle friend at once depart ;
Could calmly bear the rankling thorn

Of cold neglect, though keen its smart.
And, should my doom extort one sigh,

I would not cruel fate reprove ;
But every gloomy tiiought should fly

Before the smile of Her I love.

For brighter than that golden beam

Which ushers in the rising day ;
From her dear lips resistless gleam

Those smiles which chase my griefs away.
And dearer to my throbbing heart,

And far the toys of wealth above.
The tears of sympathy that start

To hail the smile of Her I love.

WEEJL HMEB BAFFIN*

ADDRBSSED TO

tfft (tavl of ^alititff.

Let Dunces grave of Zeno's School
Wisely pretend to live by rule ;
Well steal an hour to play the foot

In weel tim'd daffin*

Whate'er sententious greybeards say^
T enjoy is often to obey :
And we'll our grateful tribute pay

In weel tim'd daffin»

Let rising tempests howl around.
Our mirth shall echo to the sound.

And evening's social hours be crown'd

Wi' weel tim*d daffin.

Enough of care we all shall Rnd
To overcloud the brightest mind ;
And wreck the soul tliat's not inclined

To weel tim'd daffin.

Ye venal slaves wha haunt a court.
Ambition's victims ! folly's sport I
Your only comfort lies in Port

And weel tim'd daffin !

Ye rueful swains, who idly rove
By purling stream, or myrtle grove ;
Take respite from the frowns of love

In weel tim'd daffin.

Ye sordid miscreants ! y,ho spare
The gold you count ; your lavish heir
Shall purchase soon an ample share

O' weel tim'd dalhn.

For thee, brave Scott ! whose toast sae gaj
Inspires this random, festive lay ;
To thee may many a cloudless day

Bring w^l tim'd daffin.

Whether a Highland Whisky gill
Or bright Oporto tempt thy will ;
Full many a bumper mayst thou fill

To weel tim'd daffin

When social brithers a are met.
They should na part in Bacchus' debt;
But be na fou, though gaily yet,

Wi' weel tim'd daffin.

TO JUUAi

Oh ! smile not> Julia, smile not so.
Disguise the accents of thy tongue ;

That smile, that voice, but aids my wo.
To break a heart most deeply wrung.

For thus, in days for ever flown.
That magic smile, that syren voice,

Beguird this heart to sorrow prone.
And bade it tremblingly rejoice.

Still on that soft enchanting tone.
With partial fondness I could dwell ;

Still think that smile was mine alone.
And fancy's dreams might aid the spell.

Alas ! in vain, too late I see

What cruel chains tliis heart enthral
Those smiles exist, but not for me ;

Oh ! not for me those accents fall.

Then smile not Julia ! smile not so.

Be silent e'en for pity's sake :
That smile would aggravate my wo.

That voice my bursting heart would break !

A WIPfTER PIECE

%n iFrtetUi0gt{i«

BY A LADY.

Dread Winter rules ! and o*er the ravaged pima
The whistling whirlwind and the tempest roar-;

Deep sounding caves reecho back the strain*
And the hoarse murmur creeps along the diore.

No sportive lambs frisk o^er the verdant lawn«
Or bleat responsive to the echoing vale ;

No more fresh breezes scent the breath of moni»
Or balm; fragrance loads the evening gale.

Mute every voice that warbled through the grove.
Melodious concert ! harmony of sound !

Silent the stock-dove's tender tale of love
And one sad, dreary horror reigns around.

Ah ! sad transition from the late lov'd scene.
When beauteous May led on the smiling hours ;

And nature decked the velvet vested green

With the rich fragrance of uanumber'd flowers.

Yet to fond Fancy's raptured eye shall rise
^Elach former scene, in heigten'd beauty drest ;

Aurora^s charms shall paint the orient skies.
And blushing crimson tinge the glowmg west.

Ideal bliss ! without thy soothing aid.

Mid' scenes of care how oft would droop the heart;
Without thy veil, the ills of Ufe to shade.

How deq> their anguisli, and how keen their smart.

Whether Uie purple morn, with loveliest hues
Display its radiance ; or, at closing day.

O'er the green plains descend refreshing dews.
And balmy gales, half slumbering, scarcely play :

Whether thy stream, fair Eden ! gently glide ;

Or discompos'd by floods impetuous roll.
Whether, when deeply musing by its side.

It soothe to peace, or agitate the soul :

Yet still, tlirough shades where more than Eden blooms,
Shall Fancy rove in happiest visions blest ;

Feel the mild breeze, iuhale the rich perfume.
And dream o'er scenes in charms romantic drest.

What though the tempest roar, the thunders roll.
And gathering clouds obscure the solar ray ;

Virtue's mild radiance shall illume the soul.
And heaven-born truth shall beam the mentsil day.

Shall we make joy dependant on an hour t
Or to these transient scenes confine our view t

Too short the period placed within our power.
Too frail the fleeting objects we pursue.

Are there no roses blooming in the breast.

Whose fragrance wintry storms can ne'er destroy 1

No hoarded sweets ] no lov'd attachment, drest
By Hope's kind hand, in all the robes of joy ?

Yes ! Friendship, beautious form ! unwounded lives.
Her sacred influence all the soul inspires ;

Dear to the heart are all the joys she gives^
Still undiminished bum her heavenly fires.

Hail ! Goddess, hail ! to thee let altars rise.
And incence sweet, with votive gifts be paid ;

Around thy shrine shall blush unnumber'd dyes.
And verdant myrtles yield a grateful shade.

Never didst thou the obdurate bosom melt.
The sordid breast was ne'er thy favorite throne ;

But Love and Pity ever witli thee dwelt
And each fair virtue's mild effiilgence shone.

Through every changeful scene, and varying hour.
Through Winter's storms, and Summer's verdant bloom>

Thy ever soothing, animating power.

Cheers the fond heart with pleasures yet to come.

STANZAS

ON PERUSING

J00pcfie,

A POEM,

BY THE LATE MRS. TIGHR

€i

Fond dreamer ! meditate thine idle sopg»

But let thine idle song remain unknown :"
O guard its beauties from the vulgar throng.

Unveil its charms to friendship's eye alone.
To thee shall friendship's partial praise atone

For all the incense of the world beside ;
Unthinking mirth may slight thy pensive tone^

Firfly may scorn, or ignorance deride : —
The lay so idly sung, let prudence teach to hide«

Sweet Minstrel ! couldst thou tLiuk a song like thine,

With grace reptete, with harmony inspired,
Thy timid modesty could e'er confine
Within those limits which thy fears desir'd ?
Ah no ! by all approved, by all admir'd,

Its charms shall captivate each listening ear ;
Thy " Psyche." by the hand of taste attir'd.

To virtue, grace, and delicacy dear.
Shall consecrate thy name for many a future year.

Oh ! had indulgent heaven but spar'd thy Lyre,

Which first it strung and tun'd to melody.
How many an heart had felt encreasmg fire.

Dwelling enraptur'd on its minstrelsy :
How many an ear had drank its harmony.

And listen'd to its strains with sweet delight ;
But He, whose righteous will is sovereignty.

Hath bid thy sun of glory set in night.
And, though we mourn thy loss, weown his sentence right

Yet, plaintive Songstress ! on thy gentle lay

Fancy with pensive tenderness shall dwell ;
Memory shall snatch from Time thy transient day.

And soft regret each feeling breast shall swelL
But, why r^et ? Let faith, exulting, tell

That she, whose tuneful voice had sung before.
In allegoric strain, love's witching spell.

Now sings HIS love whom wondering worlds adore^
And still shall chaunt his Praise when time shall be no
more.

RESPONSE

TO THE THREE VALEDICTORY STANZAS

SUBJOINED TO

%fft ilatip of tBe %alt^

x3ard of the North ! abandon not the Lyre,
Whose strains, so sweetly wild, thy skilful band

Has taught surrounding nations to admire
* Beyond the sleight of all Cecilia's band :

Ne'er shall the wires, by casual breezes fann'd»
Vibrate in harmony more rich than thine ;

Nor artist e'er be found in all the land,
I jke thee the dregs of fiction to refine

By inspiration's blast, and fancy's flame divine.

When malice shall again mvade thy breast^

Misfortune sieze thee in her rude embrace ;
Sorrow distnrb the chamber of thy rest.

Or envy spread her «iares for thy disgrace ;
What charm shall then embolden thee to £ice

Th' impending shock, if thou the strain forego?
Or from thy memory's crowded page erase

The records manifold of former wo.
And all the coontless pangs that none but poets know T

There was a time, in numbers, though uncouth.

When I could cheer the solitary hour ;
But ere I reach'd the joyous prime of youth,

A fiend of ghastly form, and giant power.
Intruder oft upon the muses' bower,

Dash'd from my feeble grasp the sounding shell ;
My fancy from the heights she wont to tower

Drove headlong downward ; and by magic iqpell
Bound her to fiimish sport for every imp of hell :

The fairy visions opening to her view

They scattered to the winds^ and mock'd iny pain ;
And though her labour she would oft renew

'Twas worthless skill, and labour all in vain ;
Yet never could she from the task refrain : — •

Fr(Jin thine, alas ! how different is my fate !
Thou leav'st the muse, though fame applauds thy strain;

While I, though grovelling in obscure estate.
Pursue her still in spite of more than mortal hate.

SONNET

TO G. D. L

ON THE APPROACH OF WINTER.

My much iov'd Friend ! whose labours oft dispense

To the worn sufferer health's returning bloom :
Skilful, yet modest ; kind without pretence ;

Whose cordial sympathy hath cheer'd the gloom
Of hours more dark than Winter's self can show !

While lengthened Evenings linger out the Year,
May we, beside thy fire's reviving glow.

Beguile in social converse evenings drear.
And if, at such an hour, a transient thought

Of vain regret for blessings known no more
Should cross my mind ; thy friendship, richly fraught
' With consolation, shall my peace restore.
Grateful I'll bow to Heaven's supreme decree.
Since, though it call'd for much, it left me Thee.

THE

EXILE'S RETURN,

X HE sun from the east with his brightness wms cheering
The sailor^s glad eyes, now approaching to land.

When, past anguish forgetting, the Exile of Erin,
O'er tlie strings of his harp flung a tremulous hand;

For his heart was with exquisite agony beating.

In anticipation he wdcom'd the greeting

Of kindred and Iriends, while with rapture r^ieating
The strain long remembered of £rin>go-bragh!

Through tlie silence of aight he had watchM with devotioa

The eastern horizon, expecting the dawn
To arise on h^ own " sweetest isle of the ocean ";

With a glow of delight he now hail'd the glad mom.
Lovely hope, and gay fancy their impulse extending,
And rapture and fear, were alternately blending.
In his heart all his Feelings were vainly contending.
As he raised the glad anthem of £rin-go-bragh !

Hal!! Erin, my coimtry, ah! long have I, banish'd
To a far distant climate, in agony moum'd ;

But now, at thy smile, every sorrow has vanishVl^
Again to thy shore b the Exile returned*

On ce more in the Land erf my Fathers 111 wakeR

Hie lay of my youth, long through sorrow forsaken;

And, with rapturous joy, early transports partakii^
Will ting to the numbers of Erin-go-bragli I

Awake ! my sad heart, former mis'ry effdciag.

Let pleasure once more prompt to hail the glad mom ;
Nor let recollection, past anguish retracing.

Cast a shade o'er the rays which yon mountain adorn :
iSoon, soon shall these arms, to my heart fondly pressing
The friend of my youth, every virtue possessing.
Be ^gain strung with vigour, receiving his blessing
To strike my dear harp, and sing £rin-go-bragh !

Gracious Father of Mercy ! Protector of Erin !

Oh thou whose dread presence inspires me with awe !
Deign to smile on my country, now bright reappearing.

And bless the lov'd measure of £rin-go-bragh I
When the tide of existence is languidly flowing.
Still may the dear theme, youthful vigour bestowing.
Inspire me to sing, while with ecstasy glowing
Erin mavoumin ! Eriu-go-bragh !

JANE ASHFORD<

A TALE IN HUMBLE LIFE.

TTbe short but simple annals of the Poor. — Gray.

Unknown beyond his native village green,

0«od Imac AahfiMd rear'd his humble shed;
Qff&atp 9r aplendour little had he aeen.

Save, Nsitiite't beauties idl around him q[>read*
Twathis through life a noiseless path to tread^

CooMit and cheerfi^ in his lonely lot;
Or, if jhis eyt some dro|>s of sorrow shed,

ifis pkras trust in heaven forsook him not :
His was weH«fouBdfid ftitfa, whkh ohristiaa love begot.

His is yon cot whose russet thatch appears

Beneath that ample oak's out-stretching shade :
Within that cot were spent his early years,

Beneath that tree full often has he play'd ;
And, when his parents in their grave were laid, .

Whose closing days his filial love had blest.
Hither he brought his chosen village-maid ;

Pure was the flame which glow'd in either breast.
And gay the future scene by smiling fancy drest.

Six lovely infants crowned their fruitful bed.

Three sturdy boys, three girls of beauty rare ;
With joy the father stroked each youngling's head.

And oft the partial mother would declare.
No ndghbour's child could with her girb compare :

With anxious watchfulness did both combine
To guard their tender minds from every snare ;

Would tell them, * Better far be good than fine/
Aiid bid their youthful steps to Yu-tue's path incline.

Such were the counsels of pareutal love.

Nor were the sage monitiotis given in vain ;
Yet was there one whose breast they could not move.

Their elder son had joined a smuggling train.
Seduced by love of drink, and lawless gain :

He, when detected, left his native land.
To gain a living so the stormy main,

A deqp'rate member of a rufiian band.
Who scom'd their country's laws, nor heeded God's
command.

Nor this the only grief that Ashford knew —

Oft fr<»n his own and from his partner's eye.
The ready tear a daughter's sufierii^ drew ;

Full oft each bosom heav'd the pensive sigh.
For £Bital symptoms told her end was nigh :

Too well they knew no doctor^s skill could save.
They saw their darling Jane must early die ;

Th' expected blow a deep affliction gave ;
And die, with lai^d smile, surveyed the openkg grave.

E 2

And wherefore from the maiden's pallid cheek

Was fled each bloom of joy and youthful grace?
The painful cause my faithful verse shall speak.

Nor shall che tale occasion Jane di^race : •
A broken heart had bleach'4 that lovely face.

Sorrow for one who dwelt no more on earth ;
Yet still th' attentive eye might ekariy trace

Reliques of beauty, which, whenjoin'd to worthy
Might in m guileless breast give ardent passion birth.

In early life, for Thame^s frequented side.

Poor Jane bad left her peaceful village^green ;
A city tradesmasy to her sire aHied,

With partiid eye his smiling niece bad seen :
Nor faitfafui wife, nor ehUd, had he I ween ;

B«t pass'd bis cheerless moments all alone ;
Each interval of bu^ life between.

Much did he wish a girl like her his own.
To close his d^ng eyes, and watdi his. parting groan.

H«r parenti heard their brother's plainthre tale,

Cofnentiiig [Mty toocfa'd each tmder breaxt ;
Some argimieati of prudeace, too, prevail.

And fbr her future weal they jadg'd it bett
She bade adieu ! the tear, but ill suf^rest^

Bespoke her love for those she left behind ;
Yet soon agaki her face in nniles was drest,

A scene so new, a relative ao kind,

all her grief, and made her feel resigned.

Twelve fleeting summers soon Were past and gone^

. Each summer saw an annual visit paid ;
And never, sure^ the sun had shone upon

A aM>ve belov'd, a more enchanting maid :
A steady youth, who, in her uncle's trade.

His anxious toil, and humble profits, Aar^d ;
To charms so 'witching had his homage paid,
latipu^4 by ardent lovc^ he vnm dared,
«9o «oo her nrpn heart; m matchless, rich rewardl

£3

Well pleas'd the uncle heard ; the good old man

Had known the youth, and loved fahn from a child ;
Good Isaac Ashford too approved tlie phm.

And Jane> with modest blushes, sweetly smil'd.
Her lover^s company each eve begnil'dy

And often, seated by their cheerful fire,
Robert, who, when a boy, on ocean wild

Had sail'd to distant countries with his sire.
Would tell of marvels strange, which wonder migfat
inspire.

Pass we the lover's raptures, and the fears

Which agitate the maiden's throbbing breast ;
With beating heart the solemn rite she hears

The pastor's voice the wedded pair has blest :
How shall the trembling muse record the rest? '

Scarce had they left the hymenenal fane.
They met a press-gang ! Robert's eyes detest

Those well-known monsters of the foamy main.
Ah !' lovely pair ! your prayers, your tears^ are vain4< '

The leader of that gang <^.ould hear UDmov'd

The Hiaiden^s shriek, the hridegroom's wild despaur,
' Sieze him/ he cried ; resistance fatal proved : ">

Jane saw the blow of death with vacant stare ;
Nor could her toi^ae the horrid truth declare,

Her brother struck the base, the murderous blow !
His was the gang which met the hapless pair,

BU ruffian arm caused Robert's blood to flow ;
O 'twas a madd'niog thought ! a dreadful tale of wo !

Yet must remorse have touch'd the villain's heart.

When on his sensies fla^'d th' accursed truth ;
Compunction's drops, oh ! could they fiul to start.

Amid the pangs of agonizing ruth !
Surely the memory of his early youth.

Before his feet had trod that winding road.
Which leads by gradual descent and smooth

To dark perdition's horrible abode —
Some memory of those days his tortur'd heart must
goad.

But wherefore dwell upoo the dreadful thene]

To iwiot its horrors language is denied ;
It seim'd a learf ul and terrifie dream : .

To Jane it left a ne?er ending void*
Her aged uncle, too severely tried.

Bequeathed his blessing with his latest prajer ;
Heart-brcAen by that fatal stroke be died :

Jane came once more her &ther's meal to sbani,
A prey to rooted grief, and speechless de^ despair.

Afflicted maiden I romid thy father^s cot

The roses blossom, and the woodbines twine ;
In vain they flourish, for thou heed'st them not^

Though once to cultivate their charms was thine :
Still on the sabbath eve in converse join

The partners of thy joys in eariy years;
But thoo no more amidst the group shalt shine.

The voice of nurth, discordant to thine ears^
Goiivejw a keener pang, and calls forth bitt'rer tears.

Sweet maid ! suppress thy sorrow, monm no more.

Raise from these earthly scenes thy tearful eyes;
Soon shall thy day of anxious grief be o'er.

The grave awhile shall hush thy struggling sighs :
Then, dawning forth in purer, happier skies.

To bid all conflict end, all anguish cease.
Thy cloudless sun. Eternity ! shall rise.

Herald of joys inunortal, endless peace,
Ineffiible delight, and bliss beyond increase.

TO THE EVENING STAR.

Jr AIR Planet ! whose returning beam

Reminds me of departing day !
At this still hour be thou the theme

Of one short tributary lay.
And while, beneath thy modest ray.

My fancy labours to be hlest^
Peace too shall reassume her sway.

Without a rival, in my breast.

Sweet star of evjR ! thy milder light

To me imparts a purer joy
Than all the sun's efiulgence bright.

That only dazzles to destroy
The work of peace^ and find employ

For all the cares that gender strife :
With thee I taste without alloy

The silent luxury of life.

Though' of the shameless Paphian Queen

Thou bearest the polluted name.
And though thy rising light is seen.

As if from ocean's bed it came.
Yet not from fiction^ nor from fame.

Dost thou like her derive thy birth ;
But early shone thy lambent flame.

When God created heaven and earth.

Hail ! lovely harbinger of eve I

Tis thine, at twilight's hour serene.
When sultry Phcebus takes his leave»

To usher in the glorious scene :
Fair Cynthia, night's resplendent queen.

In full orb'd glory greets the sight ;
And countless stars, with twinkling sheen.

Surround the majesty of night.

Is there whose torpid heart unmov'd.

Can on the beauteous prospect dwell)
Who loving none, by none belov'd.

Ne'er felt the bliss he could not teU ? .
** If such there breathe, go, mark him well T

He ne'er shall taste those pleasing charms,
The joys, the trembling hopes, that swell

The breast which generous feeling warms.

Bright star, adieu ! this artless som;.

Addressed to thee, by thee inspired.
As time's swift stream shall roil along.

Must soon decay ; but thou, untir'd.
With undiminish'd splendour fir'd,

Shalt cheer the lingering hours of night ;
From age to age by all admir'd,

A source of pure, of calm delight !

TO MARIA.

1 ELL me, Maria, lovely maid !

Why is that gentle breast afraid

Of friendship's hallow'd flame 1
Say, can a mind so pure as thine.
Suspect a heart sincere as mine
Of any selfish aim?

Was it the dictate, stern and cool
Of nice decorum's rigid school,

Which bade thee slight my strain ?
Or was it female pride alone.
Which scorn*d a simple bard, unknown

To fashion's gaudy train ]

Believe, me, lovely maid ! a mind
Like thine, ingenuous and refin'd.

Is virtue's surest guard ;
It needs not heed what gossips say.
With conscious rectitude its stay.

And peace its blest reward.

And though my hnmbk path, imkaown.
Or mark'd by friendship's eye alone.

Be scom'd by fiuihion's train,
Maria ! I would not exchange
My lot with theirs, the world who range

For pleasure^ or for gain*

If I could envj one on earth»

Twould be that happy youths whose worth

Should wake love's gentle fire
Within thy artless, spotless breast.
There reign a &Tourite confest.

And bid thy fears expire.

Oh ! may the youth the fates ordain
To wear thy dear, delightful chain.

The glorious bondage Uess ;
And thou thyself, hom scruples freed.
Nobly bestow that richest meed.

Which seals his happiness.

And canst liioii ask — ^what is that meed t
I'll tell thee— 'tis with joy to read

The language of the heart.
When in the silent, speaking eye.
Expressive of the smothei^d sigh.

The tears of kindness start.

Compar'd with joy like this, how poor
Are countless heaps of shining ore.

Or fashion's giddy dream 1
Ambition's meteors glide away.
Nor can Aurora's self display

So pure, so bright b 1>eam.

In sorrow's dark and stormy night.
Love's heavenly influence can delight

And cheer the drooping heart ;
And in bright joy's ecstatic hour.
It can, with soul subduing power.

Redoubled bliss impart. .

STANZAS

ADDRESSED TO AN INFANT.

" November hii^les o'er the lea.

Chill, on thy lovely form ;
And gaive» a]a3 ! the 3he|f ring tree.

Should shield thee frae the storm." — Buens.

Lovely Cherub ! sweetly smiting
Mid' the scene of earthly strife^

Let the Bard, his cares beguiling.
Hail thy entrance into life.

Early have the blasts of 'Sorrow
Howl'd around thy infant head ;

Buty we trast, some happier morrow
Will her richest blessings shed.

Oft the thrtaf ning clouds of morning
Flee before advancing day.

When the snn, the plains adorning.
Colours o'er the landscape gay.

Though the tender name of mother
Be to thee, sweet girl t unknown ;

Though the ties of sister, brother.
Thou canst never call^ thine own :

TlMoglr thy fether o^er the ocean
Bends bis way to India's coast;

By the bounding billow's motwn
T^ and fro tempestuous toss'd ;

Thou, by kindest friends protected.
Ne'er shalt roam without a guide ;

Nor shall be their care neglected
For thy welfare to provide.

May thy HEAVENLY parent's blessing
Well repay and crown that care ;

And mayst thou, every grace possessing.
Long survive their love to share.

Mildest zephyrs ! softly playing.
Gently fan this opening flower !

Healtli and beauty still conveying
By your breezes every hour.

Genial showers ! from heaven descending.
Shed your influence all around I

Guardian Angels, too, attending.
Keep from no&ious seeds the ground !

When, progressively advancing^
Blossoms forth their treasure pour«

May every eye, around thee glancing,
See of fruit an ample store.

Sense and wit, if haply beauty

■

Fail to charm the ravished sight.

Shall give thee pleasure in thy duty.

Zealous for thy friends' delight.

Then, the task of life completed.
Soon shall rise an endless day.

When the Grave and Death defeated
Shall at once resign their prey.

Borne aloft on eagle pinion
To the realms of light and joy.

Thou shalt enter life's dominion.
Past tliose pleasures which destroy.

Mansions that the righteous dwell m
Shall receive thee for a guest ;

And Seraphs hail my lovely Ellen :
Welcome thou among the blest !

HYMN TO THE DEITY.

^WEET harp of Judah! touch'd with heavenly fire?

Bid from thy strings celestial music flow ;
And Thou who didst the Royal Bard inspire,

Command this breast with kindred warmth to glow.
By Thee assisted, from this vale of wo

The song of joy and gratitude shall rise ;
Though faint at first, in murmuring accents low.

Yet, if Thou smile upon the sacrifice.
The swelling notes of praise shall rend the vaulted skies.

**Let there be light!" — thus spoke thy Sovereign power,

Forth burst the beams of new created day,
Applauding aiigels hail'd th' eventful hour,

Enraptured seraphs bless*d the cheering ray.
The gloomy shades of darkness fled away,

The courts of heaven with hallelujahs rung ;
Silence obtain'd a momentary sway,

As all attentive on Thy accents hung ; —
Tlie Chorus " there is light !" then burst from every
tongue !

By Thy command the azure vault of heaven.

The billowy ocean, aud the fruitfiil earth,
Assuni'd the stations in thy wisdom given.

Meanwhile, rejoicing in his heavenly birth.
The sun in cloudless majesty came forth ;

The lovely moon, mild ruler of the night.
With every star and planet, soutli, and north.

And east, and west, a new and wondrous sight,
Rode in vice-regal state amid the realms of light.

Who bade these various orbs m order move t

Who bade the ocean's waves tumultuous roart
Who bade the feather'd songsters of the grove

Their tributary notes harmonious pour?
A God ! a bounteous God ! his matchless power^

His wisdom, and his goodness all proclaim.
But chief should man that providence adore.

Which form'd with hand divine the human frame,
Aud gave to earthly dust a spirit's vital flame.

But not creative power alone we praise.

The time must come, when, seiz'd with fervent heat,
The elements shall melt ; in dreadful blaze

All nature's funeral pile the eye shall meet.
The world shall leave no traces of its seat.

The things that once have been shall cease to be ;
But mercy, pleading at thy judgement seat.

Shall still prevail. From doubt, from terror free.
Redemption's perfect plan shall fix our rest in Thee.

For this, on Bethlehem's plains at dead of night»

Angelic hosts announced Messiah's reigo ;
At first the shepherds trembled with affright.

But, as they listen'd to the sacred strain.
They soon confest their fears, their terrors vain.

They heard the song with holy humble joy»
Whicli flow'd symphonious from the seraph traiiv

Proclaiming glory unto Thee on high.
Good will to Man, and peace to all beneath the sky.

Oh gift unspeakable of love divine !

The christian's comfort, and the prophet's theme,
Eternal word ! thy light shall ceaseless shine.

Though man perceives not its awakening beam.
Deceived by sensual pleasure's fatal dream.

Or dazzl'd by ambition's splendid toys.
He sails unthinking down life's rapid stream :

" The still small voice," too often drown'd in noise,
1Vhis|)ers, alas ! in vain, the fate of human joys.

Yet, Gracious Father! plead thy sacred cause:

To thee the secrets of all hearts are known.
There are who violate thy rigliteous laws.

Who know thy will, and yet perform their own.
Oh ! be to such thy boundless mercy shown.

Attract to virtue by thy cords of love.
Hear Thou tlie prisoner's sigh, the shiner's groan,

Th' unequal conflict shall thy pity move.
And draw compassion down from every saint above !

MY JLUCY.

" No idly-feign*d poetic pains

My sad love-lorn lamentings clum ;
No shepherd's pipe, Arcadian strains ;

No fabled tortures, quaint and tame :
The plighted faith; the mutual flame;

The oft attested pow'rs above :
The proQus'd father's tender name :

These were the pledges of my love !** — ^Bubns.

Oh Thou ! from earth for ever fled !
Whose reliques lie among the dead
With daisied verdure overspread,

My Lucy !

For many a weary month gone by.

How many a solitary sigh

I've heav'd for thee, no longer nigh.

My Lucy !

And if to grieve I cease awhile,
I look for tliat enchanting smile
Which all my cares could once beguile.

My Lucy !

But ah ! in vain. The blameless art.
Which sooth'd to peace my troubled heart.
Is lost with thee, my better part !

My Lucy !

Thy converse innocently free.
That bade the fiends of fancy flee —
'Tb there I find the want of thee.

My Lucy !

Nor is it for myself alone.
That I thy early death bemoan :
Our infant now i» all my own.

My Lucy!

Couldst thou a guardian angel prove
To the dear offspring of our love.
Until it reach the realms above.

My Lucy !

Could thy angelic spirit stray.
Unseen companion of my way.
As onward drags the weary day.

My Lucy !

And, when the midnigibt hour shall eUse
My eyes in short unsound repose,
Couldst thou but whisper off my woes.

My Lucy !

Then, tlioiigh thy loss I must deplore
Till next we meet to part no more,
rd wait the grasp that from me tore

My Lucy!

For, be my life but spent like thine.
With joy shall I that life resign.
And fly to thee, for ever mine.

My Lucy!

SONNET

%o ILotti jfinqaU

Illustrious Peer ! Hibernians foitliful son J

Thou firm assertor of her children's right !
Well has thy worth the Patriot's praises won.

And soon shall put intolerance to flight.
Unlike that orb in his meridian height.

Whose piercing radiance mocks the gazing eye.
Religion aids the intellectual sight.

That fondly searches for a purer sky.
No longer calFd by many a various name,

'Tis she that yet in every christian heart
Shall kindle charity's perennial flame.

And nothing but the waves hereafter part
The sons of freedom, in one fortune bless'd.
One law, one sovereign, and one God confessed.

STANZAS

TO A FRIEND ON THE DEATH OF HER FATHER.

1 HOUGH nature's feelings rend thy hearty
Shock'd by a parent's death ;

ThougK friendship could not turn the dart
Which took his vital breath ;

The record of my feeble pen.
Engraven on thy breast.

May welcome to thee- once again
The pillow Q^thy rest.

And though religion well might calm

Tb' exoess of filial loVe ;
Reflection may, with lenient balm.

Some source of comfort prove.

Though quick the change, and prompt the stroke,

Which snapt the slender chain
Of life, it sav'd him from the yoke

Of slow consuming pam.

With mixkt to ibope, «id novglit t# (ekt.

Beyond the sikot tomii,
Peaoeful was voce hii Jweiling here ;

Moie peaceful i»w Ihb 1m

To him whose taricwMikily dcMM»
J>eath could be jw surprise ;

for well he kmem Ihot life's last mh
Would with bi^ Saviour tm

The ^ftsdour of tbat proiria'd mom
What numbers caa set Ibrth^

When robes, of gloiy ahaU adMii
The majesty of wortkl

Still on his manly face and form
May memory fondly dwell.

And still afiecdon's yearnings warm
Thy wounded bosom swell.

yfature such feelings will betray^
And o¥m the tribute due ;

But faith should wipe the tear away.
And inward peace renew.

The path a righteous sire has trod
Distinctly points to heaven ;

The grace and goodness of hi& God
To thee are also given.

165406

100

That path observed, what rapture sw^t.

Beyond my skill to paint.
Thy panting soul shall feel to greet

The father in the saint !

)

101

A FULL BJLOWN ROSE.

A full blown rose, in beauty's pride.
By chance my wand'ring eye descried ;
Its de\¥y fragrance, scattered wide,
Perfum'd the gales of morning.

When evening sun-beams ting'd the sky
I hastened forth, again to spy •
Those charms which struck my roving eye
So early in the 0K>niii«.

102

But ah ! its beauties all were flown !
Aud all its humid fragraiice gone !
All that the sun had glancM upon.
So lovely in the morning !

Withered by Phoebus' scorching heat.
It lay in fragments at my feet ;
No more th' enraptured sight to greet
On any future morning.

So short, lo frail as Ineamty't wp^i
Who can the pensive sigh nestniiit
The longest d«te its charms can gain
Is but a sttminftr'i mQnmg I

But let not Lauisi's g€»ik bn^ist
Be with this moumfiii troth depr^t;
Sha ;^t may 3hitte» supfem^ly h]^
For many a jpy/ail vuuping.

103

Long, long may Heaven ber beauties spare ;
Preserve ber hiippy^ good, aad fair ;
And sbield from every ruder care

Each eveiiiDg> aoooy andmorniDg.

.u<* mill I u aaaaagg

104

THE FUGHTS OF FANCY

INSCRIBED TO MARIA.

" All hail, sweet Fancy's ray ! and hail the dream
That weans the weary soul from guilt and woe !"

Beattie.

In fancy^s bright^ delusive hour.
When reason had resign'd her sway ;

And fauy dreams had magic power
To lead the pensive mind astray ;

To some delightful calm retreat.

With all the lightening's speed, Fve flowir,
To hold with thee communion sweet.

And live for thee, sind thee alone.

105

Not bottud by love's deceitftd chain.
Which time can break but not restore;

But by attractions which retain
Angelic soals from parting more*

IVho shall describe the pure delight
My heart at such an hour hath found.}

The dreams of joy which bless'd my sight.
The scenes of rapture all around ?

Embowering shades, suq)assing &r
Italians boasted myrtle groves.

Where oft, beneath the evening star.
The laurell'd shade of Petrarch roves ;

Through groves like these in thought I've stray'd.
And paus'd, while, gently murmuring by.

Transparent streams sweet music made.
More soft than zephyr's softest sigh.

106

Bat ihtrt was om^ aoi^thmiglity partMik
The kifluence of tbo he«¥«nly ict ne ;

And soon I found, in every look.
The traits of thy exalted nuen.

The verdant myrtle's yielding bougie
With blushing roses full m bloom.

Were wreath'd around thy graceful brev.
And scattered far a rich perfume

A spotless robe of purest white
Around thy seraph form was tbrowa;

Thine eye, with rapture aparUiog bright*
The diamond's lustre ftr outshone.

And from thy harp, by magic strung.
Flowed such a soul-enchanting strain.

That fiends, before with madness stung.
In li^teuing had forgot their pain.

Ye shadofws hence ! beguile no Tnore,

Though sweet the bliss, 'Itis dearly bought ;

Though strong the spell, its chann is o'er ;
Thpugh cherish'd, 'tis with anguish fraught!

But, fancy I though thy powerful speQ
Like moniing mist dissolves in air,

Hope's soothing whispers fondly tell
Of future visions full as fair ;

Of bliwf ul sceMt more bright thaa ^'er

EJysium's frbled fields diiplay'd ;
like these so feebly painted here.
But not like these coodcnin'd to fiide.

108

" NEAR YONDER BOWER."

JN EAK yonder bower, by fancy drest.
Where she had built her secret nest ;
I saw a parent-bird distrest

Fly round, and round incessantly.

Some rude, unfeeling passer-by
Had stoFn the source of all her joy ;
And now, with many a piercing cry.

She mourn'd her loss most plaintively.

109

Laiiieutiug her disastrous lot.
She hover'd round that sacred spot ;
Andy though she knew it held them uot.
She caird her young ones mournfully.

Poor hapless warbler ! not alone
Shalt thou indulge thy plaintive moan ;
Such feelings hath this bosom known.
This heart shall share thy agony.

For I have seen that speaking eye.
Where friendship I could once espy.
Glancing disdainful, proud, and high.
When I have look'd for sympathy.

I have beheld that lovely face.
Where once, enraptur'd, I could trace
Of sweetest smiles the winning grace.
Look coldly, dark, and scornfully.

And it has been my fate to see
That heart so geoerousi frank, and free»
By harsh suspkioBS cloa'd to me
In mute insensibility.

Yet I, like tliee, sweet bird ! in vain
Essay to break the potent cbaio.
Which binds me to the i^t, where pain
StiU mocks my fond credulity.

But happier far thy lot than mine ;
Love, peace, and joy may yet be thine ;
Another spring shall see thee join
Nature's returning jubilee.

Mine is, alas ! a harder doom ;
No more shall Julia's smiles illume
^y thorny path : but deepest glpom^
And horror, be my destiny.

Ill

TO UVCY IN HEAVEN,

Depabteb mnt! whose gentk sway
Once lulled to peace this throbbing breast ;

To thee my aumrnful mase shall pay
The hoBiage of a heart anblest

And if to thy iintroubrd seat
The Toioe of sorrow can ascend;

With footbiq; pity thou shait greet
The phuBtifC iMcnts of a friend.

112

If e'er on earth that friend was dear
Oh let him not unheeded pine ;

If angel eyes can drop a tear

Let one bright pledge descend from tliine.

And when the bright harmonious choir
Give songs of heavenly praises birth ;

Let tenderest thoughts^of Ic^e inspire
A sigh for those still left on earth.

♦*«

. Whatever the blissful lot assigned
To sainted denizens of Heaven ;
Whether,- on fleecy clouds reclined.
They glitter in tlie rays of even ;

Or, bathing in the chrystal stream.

Which flows through virtue's blest abode ;

Or prompted by seraphic dream, %

They hymn the glory 9f their God :

113

Whate'er thy task, dqwrted shade !

Still, if thine eye can glance below.
For him to whom thy vows were made

One tear of fond regret shall flow.

Shall flow unchecked, periiaps approv'd ;

O might it but for mercy plead !
Then, dearest saint ! admired ! belov'd !

That pious drop were bless'd indeed.

/•

114

STANZAS

ON THE ANNIVEB8ABY OV TBI ABOLITION OF

THE SLAVE TRADE.

EESPSCTFULLT INSCRIBED TO THX

S^mi»x» of tffi Sitiitm SitjStintttofu

Again the rapid flight of time brings round

The sacred hour to virtue justly dear :
My muse ! conunemorate^ with joyful sounds

An hour which unboru ages shall revere.
E'en that glad hour which wip'd the bitter tear

From Afric's cheek, and cast her chains away;
Freedom, humanity, and justice, hear!

To you I dedicate this votive lay.
And consecrate to you this ever glorious day.

115

All hail, ye heavenly band ! your holy fire

luflam'd with virtuous ardour Clarkson's breast ;
Awoke that zeal which labour ne'er could tire.

Danger affright, nor av'rice lull to rest.
He saw poor Afric's sable sons opprest ;

Saw them, transported from their native shore.
Meet stem-eyed death in all his horrors drest.

Or life more horrible than death deplore,
icfa were the scenes he saw — scenes we behold no more.

Clarkson ! and Wilberforce ! thrice honoured
names!

Ye shine conspicuous ^mid that chosen band^
Whose steady zeal a nation's reverence claims^

Whose generous labours have redeemed the land.
And could a humble poef s trembling hand

Present to merit half the tribute due.
Thy name, illustrious Glostee ! forth should stand

Amid the bold disinterested few,
ho prejudice defied, and spum'd her venal crew.

H 2

116

Among the hosts ¥rho hail with just applause

This joyful hour, my- partial eyes survey
A sect, whose ardent zeal in virtue's cause.

Prompts me the trib.ute of respect to pay.
Ye Frienps of Peace ! to you this glorious day

Is doubly sanctified, is doubly dear;
On Afric's shores no more shall martial fray

Infringe that sacred law your souls revere ;
But strife and war shall cease, and happier days appear.

On Guinea's coast, where once the shriek of wo

Proclaimed the reign of anguish and despair ;
Where avarice sunk the man the brute below.

And christian monsters mock'd the captive's prayer ;
A different aspect shall that region wear :

There scenes of bliss shall once more greet the eye ;
The festive song the evening gale shall bear

In broken accents to the distant sky —
Blest sounds of peaceful mirth, and village revelry.

117

O Thou ! whose sceptre sways this earthly ball.

This trivial atom in creation's round ;
'' Who seest with equal eye as God of all,*^

A Negro fettered, or a Monarch crown'd :
Q Thou ! whose power and goodness none can bound.

Heal Afric^s wrongs, and pardon Europe's crime ;
Proclaim through torrid wastes that joyful sound.

Which Jordan's yallies heard in earlier time :
Salvation's gladdening voice, and Oospel truths sublune I

E'en while I sing, behold ! a beam of light

Shines tremulously o'er my raptur'd mind.
Foreboding that the soul's protracted night

Shall, like the body's patient sufferings, find
An end at last ; for charity, more kind

Than proud munificence could ever boast.
To leave no entrance for regret behmd.

Hath, rais'd of pious ranks a countless host.
Who rear her standard high, and shout from coast t»
eoast. H 3

118

The Bible ! sacred pledge of love divine.

The christian's treasure, now the heathen's prize,
Shall soon complete redemption's grand design.

And bring salvation home to Afric's eyes.
Soon shall the sun of righteousness arise.

And shine o'er every zone from pole to pole :
Hien, O my Country ! ever just as wise,

'Till planets in their orbits cease to roll,
Shalt thou remain enshrin'd in every grateful soul.

THE

HARMONY OF THE CREATION,

*' Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds

Ekhilirate the spirit, and restore

The tone of languid Nature.** — Cowfeb.

Who bath oot heard with raptur'd ear
The lark^s shrill matin, echcnug clear*
While grove and meadow, hx and near*
Resound with tuneful melody 1

120

How sweety how full, the blackbird's note
Seems on the morning gale to float.
While many a warbler strains hts throat
To aid the cheerful harmony !

When, at fierce noon, the sun rides high.
How sweet on river's brink to lie.
Safe sheltered from a cloudless sky.
Some shady tree for canopy !

There listen to the murmuring stream.
Like one entranc'd in moody dream ;
Hien mark on distant sail the beam
Of sun-shine glistening cheerfully.

And oh ! what tunefiil notes resound.
What heavenly music all around.
When, reached his daily journey's bound.
Bright Phcebus sets resplendently !

121

Oft have I loiter'd on my way.
While choristers on every spray
Sang vespers to the closing day.
And vied in sweetest symphony !

Is there, whose sensual, grovelling mind.
By taste, by virtue unrefin'd ;
Can hear this melody combined.
And not enjoy such minstrelsy 7

In vain to him returning spring
Bids flowrets blow, or songsters sing ;
Their charms no heartfelt raptures bring.
Nor wake to mental ecstasy.

Not so the man divinely taught ;
His soul, with nobler feelings fraught.
Ascends on wings of heavenly thought
To God, the source of Harmony.

122

In all the music of the gro¥e»
He hears a soug of joy and love.
Praising the name of Him above^
The one, etemalDEiTY I

123

IMITATION OF BURNS.

Could I but fly to that calm^ peaceful shore.
Where shades of the bless'd suffer anguish no more.

There should I sorrow not.

Misery and grief forgot.

Rapture and joy my lot,
Unfelt before !

124

Dearest of woman-kind^ when I review

All thy fond, plighted vows, faithful and true.

Fain would my spirit fly

To the bright realms on high.

And, in thy destiny,
Triumph anew !

Ah I my fond heart, all thy wishes are vain.
-Thy transports are vanished, thy griefs must remain.

Memory ! torment no more.

Fancy ! thy reign is o'er !

Canst thou to me restore
Pleasure again 1

Silenee, my muse ! nor thus idly deplore
Her whom no sorrow of thine can restore !

Nobly endure thy pain,

Sighs and tears both are vain.

Cease then thy mournful strain.
Sorrow no more !

125

SONNET TO

liAsT thou not. Lady! read how once of old
A bard crav'd audience of a duchess fair.
While he might sing of border chieftains rare.
But soon repented of his suit so bold ?
So, when to my enchanted sight unfold
Of polish'd courtesy, the graceful air ;
Of mental powers, an union rich and rare ;
All verse of mine seems raptureless and cold.

Though bright the blaze of beauty, yet to me
It shines unheeded, if it shine alone.

Talents and wit ofiend me, when I see
The first abus'd, the last to malice prone
But freely does my heart their empire own
Resistless. all; when all combined in the^

126

WHIGS & TORIES.

INSCBIBED TO

iSusAN^ in friendship's social hour.
Perchance for want of better themes^

We've scanned the deeds of those in power.
And argued on their various schemes.

Of Whigs and Tories, ins and outs.

Of this or that adininistration;
We've own'd onr fears, our hopes, and doob^

From which the state might hope salvatioo.

127

Nor did our converse lack the zest
Which diflferent principles coald give ;

A Tory thou, and I confest
As staunch a Whig as e'er could live.

Oft, when to censure Pitt I've dar'd
In sober trudi, or playful murth.

How zealously hast thou declar'd

Hb matchless powers, his peeriess worth.

By me the Statesman's fame and power

Unheeded shone, though bright their blaze ;

But 1 must own, at such an hour,
I've almost envied him thy praise*

For, trust me, Susan, the esteem
And homage of a heart like thine;

My partial taste must ever deem
A source c^pkasure half divine.

128

Let Whigs and Tories vent their qule
In endless feuds ; still unimpaired.

Our friendship shall afford delight.
And social joys be duly shared.

Be thy opinions whoDy wrong,

Thy actions might their faults redeem ;
Thy virtues still must claim my song.
While gratitude supjj^lies a theme*

An hour there was, when doomed to brave
AfHiction^s stormy billowy ocean,

I look'd for. death in every wave.
Alone ! amid the wild commotioiu

At that dread hour, when all around
Confessed stem horror's ruthless sw9iy.

When not one glimpse of 1k^ was found.
And fancy's meteors ceas'd to play ;

129

Thy friendship, like some favouring star
Emerging from the clouds of night.

In gentlest splendour beaming far,

First caught my trembling, doubtful sight.

And still, as wistfully I gaz'd.

The scattered clouds methought withdrew ;
'Till silent, raptur'd and ama/d,

A tranquil momii^ blest my view.

The howling winds, which through the night
In angry gusts my bark had driven.

Now sunk, and with returning light

Returning strength and peace were given.

And can I cease to prize that light

Which shone when all beside was dark 1

Which cheer'd misfortune's gloomy night —
The polar star which sav'd my bark 1

130

No, no, secure from all decay

Thy virtues live ; and, right or wifOng,
Be fliy opinions which they may.

Still thou shait claim my grateful song.

And though I fear I still must be
A Whig, and in the name must glory ;

So warm my friendship, that, for thee»
I would, but cannot, be a Tory !

131

SONNET TO

TuNEFOL enchantress! whose bewitching art

Beguiles the soul to many a blissful dream ;

How shall the Muse, invoked to such a theme,
Express thy power to captivate the heart ?
Him, in whose eye no tears of rapture start.

Untouched by strains like thine, we well may deem

To sentiment a stranger, though he seem
In other guise to act a manly part.

Sweet songstress ! frown not on my artless lyre ;
(for scorn the humble, tributary line

Thus feebly offered. Well might'st thou inspire
A muse to soar above the flight of mine ;

But who, of all the bright pamassian choir.
Could sing thy art in strains so sweet as thine t

132

TO MARIA

ON THE APPROACH OF SPRING.

*i O Nature ! all thy shews and forms
To feeling, pensive hearts have charms !
"Whether the Summer kindly warms

With life and light.
Or Winter howls, in gusty storms,

The long dark night !** — ^Burns.

While winter's half subsiding breeze.
In mournful cadence through the trees.
Laments the slowly lengthening day,

• • • •

And chides the animating ray.
That gilds, with spring-like lustre bright.
The landscape spread before our sight ;
Wilt thou, my lovely friend, excuse
This trivial oiSering of a muse.

133

Which finds in friendship's partial smile

More than a meed for ever toil —

A muse most willing to resign

The world's applause, if blest with thine.

The shepherd sage, whose well-eara*d feme
Once put the lore of schools to shame ;
Whose head was silver *d o'er with age,
As Gay hath told us in his page ;
Gathered his hints for contemplation
From every object in creation :
Nor can we doubt th' attentive mind
In nature's open book may fiad
Maxims of wisdom, clearly shown,
O'erlook'd by ignorance alone.
For me, who through the livelong day.
Can scarcely steal an hour away
From graver cares, whene'er I rove
Through verdant mead, or shady grove,

I a

154

In natuce's evjer .varying facie
Some moral lesson I can traee ;
And see, by conteaiplatiou's aid.
Some uaefiil trulii to mm convey'd.

E'en now, my daily lai^our dune.
When faintly gleams the setting sun,
I wander forlh : while, all around*
The ear can catch no Uvdier sound
Than gusts of wind, which, hurrying by
Through yon bare branches sefen |o sigh ;
Unless on evening's gale should float.
In fitful swell the casual note
Of martial music ; faintly caught.
With pleasing melancholy fraught :
And though the lengthened day would fain
Assert fair Spring's' returning reigp.
The leafless boughs, the sighing gale.
The gathering clouds, tlie misty veil.

135

Which shrouds th6 suo's dedituDg ray.

Confess stern Winter's further sway.

Yet still to nie this dreary hour.

This shadowy landscape, has the power

To soothe my pensive troubled heart

And sober tranquil bibs impact.

I love to Bee bleak Winter yield

Reluctantly to Spring the field ;

I love to mark the Watery gleam

Of Sol's bright myi On Deben's stktam ;

To see it gild the sapless tree.

And gem with miinic pagealitry

The dewy thorn, whose straggling bough

Can boast do other beauty now.

Perchance Hi some sequestered lane.

Screen d from the blast that sweeps At plain.

Smiling amidst its chrystal tears

Some little flower its head uprears ;

Spring's earliest trophy, faitest gem

To deck her gracefiil diadem.

136

Maria ! canst thou tell me wh j
Objects like these delight the eye»
And touch the heart ? to me it seems
They point to loftier, nobler themes.
To me this elemental strife
An emblem shews of human life ;
And when dark winter s clouds recede.
And Spring with verdure clothes the mead.
Even before her power is seen.
In the parterre, or on the green.
Thus, I exclaim, shall sorrow's night
Give way to joy's returning light?
As shine the dew-drops bright and clear.
So shall the half unconscious tear.
Brighter than smiles of pleasure seem
Glittering in rapture's rising beam.
That beauteous fiowret too shall be
To fancy's eye, a type of thee ;
Like thee it shuns the gazing eye.
Lovely in native modesty ;

137

Like thine its caning charms display
The promise of a brighter day ;
And though the chilly dews may gem
Its humid cup, and bend its stem ;
Soon shall those pearly drops be dried^
And Flora clauu her garland's pride.
Oh ! may the emblem faithful be,
Tliat flowret prove a type of thee.

158

TO PATRIOTISM^

AN ODE.

"England, with all thy faults, I love thee still —

To shake thy senate, and from heights sublime

Ot patriot eloquence to flash down fire

Upon thy foes, was never meant my task :

Bat I can feel thy fortunes, and partake

Thy joys and sorrows, with as true a heart

As any thunderer there." Cow per.

Gtenius of Britain ! aid my song.
To thee the will and power belong

To prompt the Patriot's lay.
My country's love inspires my verse^
Oh ! bid thy radiant beams disperse

The darkness of the day.

139

Give me the iRO«tiisr» generous aimp
From which ascends the towering dame

To sordid breasts mduiewii :
Give me to seek my oomitry's wesA,
And in my heart through life to fcii

Her joys and grieis ny own*

Ennobling principie ! thy power
Can brays uDmov^il the awfui hour

Which claims our parting bneath:
Thy cheering influence gUds the tamb.
When patriot virtue finds its doom

In honourable death*

By thee in^r'd in days of yore.
What Sparta many a laurel wore,

Leonidas arose ;
Though Persia's hostile millions round.
Like locusts overspread the ground,

He fac'd his country's foes.

140

With him a choice redoubted hand
" Steady of heart, and stout of hand/'

The force of valour tried ;
With joy to certain death they went.
And history marks the grand event.

Her records' greatest pride.

For thus the monumental stone

Hath made their glorious contest known

In freedom's sacred cause,
'< Go, Passenger I at Sparta tell.
For her we fought, for her we feU,

Obedient to her laws."

When mighty Rome's illustrious fame
Throughout the world had spread lier name.

Came on a numerous host ;
Whose deeds, by patriot virtue fir'd.
By each revolving age admir'd, .

Remain their country's boast :

141

Brutus, whose patriotic soul
Of other ties disdain'd control,

Condemn'd his sons to death ;
Repress'd with scorn the rising tear.
And view'd with countenance severe

Their last expiring breath.

Cornelia's name, to virtue dear.
What country does not still revere t

Her sons the Gracchi too V
That chief who hail'd the midnight sprite.
And Cato, both the bard invite

To pay the tribute due.

Endless the task, from age to age
To trace throughout the historic page

Each brave illustrious feat ;
How that Helvetian hero. Tell,
Felt his indignant bosom swell.

His heart tumultuous beat

142

Not limited to time or flipaoe,
Difiiis'd throughout tke human rac«$

The Patriot's course we mark ;*
What land a hero does not own I
America claims Washington^-

And France her Joan' of Arc.

But chief, on Britain's sea-girt coasts
Mine eye discerns a oountless host

Of heroes crown'd by fiune ;
WarricuB'to distant ages dear ;
Statesmen, and bards». by tunns appear

Of high illustrious namatf

From Falkirk's bloody, &t^ field,
Where haughty dans werefor&'d't^yielcl^f

Shall Scotland's genius turn;;
For Wallace' fd/bb shall btave a sigjH,
Then glance, with proud exultii^eye;*

On Bruce of BanaocklMN^

145

Britannia's rising pulse beats high
When Hampden, Russell, Sydney nigh

lier recollection brings ;
O'er Marvel's, and o'er Chatham's bier
Often she drops the sileat tear :

For Fox her hands she wrings*

Droop not, Britannia ! there remain^
Among thy sons, a valiant train.

Who merit thy applause : «
Remembering, though the days are fled,
Uow oft their fathers fought and bled

And perish'd in thy cause.

And never, never, 'till the waves.
Which thy unruffled bosom braves,

O'erwhelm thee, or forsake ;
Shall Britons cease the solemn prayer.
That heaven thy chiefs would omn its care.

And them thy bulwark make*

DR. JOHN ILEYDEN.

This extraordinary person, who had cmerg^ fron
obscurity by the activity and ardour of genios alone,
lately died at Batavia, of a fever partly occasioned bj
fatigue, and partly by the noxious climate to which he
had accompanied Lord Minto. He appears to have
been a linguist scarcely inferior even to the late Sir
William Jones. Tlie specimens of poetry which he left
behind him in tliis country bear such decided marks of
what may be called in some sense inspiration, that, had
he confined his talents to poetry alone, he must have
risen to the first height of excellence. For a more
ample account of him, I refer my readers to the
Monthly Magazine for February, 1812.

145

STANZAS

TO THE MEMOBT OF OB. JOHN LEYDEN.

He sleeps in dost, and all the muses mourn." — Beattxe.

XiETDBN ! ^e favour of the tuneful choir

Thy Caledonia consecrates to fame.
And 90on shall many a lofty bard inspire

With numbers worthy of thy honoured name ;
But pardon, gentle shade ! my powerless aim

To decorate with simple flowers 4iiy bier ;
The gift, though little worth, defies all blame —

The votive tribute of applause sincere
ShaU sanctify the verse, if not excite the tear.

146

No more by Esk or Eden's classic wave

Shall Scotia's muse her votary's footsteps see,
Nor shall the banks the Teviot's waters lave.

Dear haunts of childhood ! bloom again for thee :
No more at eve, beneath some spreading tree.

The pride of wood-girt Harden's wild domain.
Visions of rapture shall thy fancy see,

When^ safe returning from the billowy mam.
With joy thou might'st explore thy favourite haunts
again.

For, did not many a tear unbidden start.

As rose the whispers of tliat dreaded gale.
Which bade thee from these scenes of bliss depart I

Andy sadly listening to the flapping sail,
Did not each rocky cliff, each peaceful vale

Endear*d by habit, then more lovely seem
Than all the splendour and the pride that hail

The stranger borne to Ganges' sacred stream.
Which from its surface grand reflects the solar bean.

147

And, while the vessel which convey 'd thee far

From friends beloved, pursued her d^tin'd course.
As to tliy harp thou sang'st the northern star*

Just setting to thy view, the tear perforce
Betray *d of fond regret the copious source.

To think of those on whom it still has shone ;
While the rude crew around, with voices hoarse.

Forbade t^ee to indulge thy grief alone.
Well pleased and proud to call the passing hour their own.

Wheti treading sea-girt Sagur's desert iftle,t

Where superstition claims her deathful meed ;
Where never beam'd sweet Mercy's godlike smile.

But cruel Kali claims the monstrous creed ;
Say, did not Fancy, with the arrow's qxed.

Fly to those scenes in Britain's distant isle.
Where, near the lowly glen, or grassy mead.

The solemn chime to many a hallow'd pile
Invites the weary, poor to leave the world awhile.

* See Lejden's translation of the Portuguece hymn to the Star oC
the Sea.
t Where human victims are exposed by the superstitious Hindus.

K 2

148

All ! not for thee, sweet bard ! was beard the sound
Of that sad knell which toU'd thy fathers* end»

Nor o'er thy grave, withm their burial-ground.
Shall childhood's dear companions mournful bend;

Yet still hi Java's isle, some sorrowing friend
Shall o'er thy mould*ring reliques drop a tear;

On thy green sod sliall gentlest dews descend.
And bounteous nature, through the circling year,
Deck with her fairest flowers aJ[>aiiish'd ininslrers bier.

Nor shalt thou share that hapless minstrel's doom

Who, nameless as the race from which he sprung,
Pour'd his sad strains o'er Mary's haliow'd Umih^

O'er Harden's bier a parting requiem rung ;
Then died <' unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.'^

No, Leyden ! no. A softer, sweeter strain
Then Jura heard, as with her syren tong«e

The Mermaid strove her captive to retain.
Shall yet arise for thee from Scotia's tuaefiil train.

149

LoDg in my heart's affection I would fain

Embalm departed excellence like thine.
And loftier bards may view without disdain

The humble tribute of my feeble line.
When genius shows its origin divine,

I hail the spirit though to me unknown.
And though the strain no artifice refine.

The song of meek simplicity alone
Candour will scorn to chide, and folly may disown.

150

THE BUTTERFLY^ DEATH.

r A^R evening spread her mantle grey.
The setting sun with golden beam

Had now retir'd, and Cynthia's ray
Was glimmering o'er the silent stream.

While many a planef s brilliant light.
Resplendent in the azure sky.

Proclaimed the majesty of night.
And touched eaqh thrilling nerve of joy.

The authour is well acquidnted with the various m^ts of those
elaborate and beautiful poems,' "The Butterfly's Birth," and "The
Butterfly's Ball ;*' and therefore entreats the candour of his readers
for this bumble imitation. Whatsoever may be thought of the at-
tempt, let it be imputed to any other motive than that of aspiring
to reach'the excellence of a Roscoe.

151

Enraptur'd with the solemn scene.
On Deben's banks I musing stood ;

Surveyed the meadows' verdant green.
Or stars reflected in the flood.

-When, mid the stilbess so profound,
A plaintive cry alarm'd my ear,—

I gas'd with eagerness around.
But look'd in vain, for none was near«

At length bright Cynthia's silvery ray
Disclosed to view a piteous sight ;

A Butterfly expiring lay.
And broke the silence of the night.

Attentive to tiie murmurii^ sound.
The poefs flincy found a tongue ;

Assist, ye sylphs ! who hover'd round.
To frame those dying words in song.

152

Adieu ! it cried, with trembling voice.
Adieu I ye woods, and vallies gay !

No more, created to rejoice.
Shall I your varied charms survey.

No more, on fluttering pinion borne.
Shall fickle fancy guide my f)igl|t ;

To taste the fragrant sweets of morn-
Ecstatic season of delight ! .

How short the time since lovely May,
Array'd in robe of vernal greeu^

Exulting saw ray natal day.

And smird auspicious on the scene*

•Where Mersey's waters ceaseless flow.
By classic AUerton's domain ;

Where vivid beams of science flow.
And Roscoe wakes the tundul strain :

153

^Twas there to light and life I sprung.
With joy surveyed this beauteous earth ;

His graceful lyre the poet struDg,
And haird the glories of my birth.

Too soon I left those peacefiil bowersp
** Where elegance with splendour vies ;*'

My fancy painted lovelier flowers
Expanding under brighter skies.

Enchanted by the varied grace
Of violet blue, or primrose pale^

With eager joy I urg'd the chace
O'er many a hill, and many a dale.

At length I reacfa'd your barbarous shore,
A thoughtless urchin mark'd my flight ;

Pursued the prize with all his power ;
I sunk exhausted wkh my fright*

154

My cruel foe, the prize once gain'dy
Which in pursuit had charm'd his eye.

My rifled beauties soon disdain'd.
And left me here alone to die.

Yet, Minstrel ! ere I die, one truA
From me shall claim thy simple strain ;

Though told in vain to blooming youth.
Still teach the lesson once again.

The fairest form, the loveliest face.
The hand of death must soon destroy ;

If void of every mental grace.
What better than a Butterfly ?

But beauty's charms, with virtue crown'd.
By taste refin'd, with sense inspired.

May shed a lasting glory round.
By all belov'd, by all admir'd.

155

Nor shall the awful gloom of deaft
Obscure the brilliant lustre giveu ;

That form on earth deprived of breath.
Shall once more shine a Saint ia Heaven.

156

ODE

TO AN £OLIAN HASP.

SwBBT instrument ! whose tones beguile the ear

With mingled strains of sadness and delight,
Recal the scenes to melancholy dear.

Or to the bowers of former bliss invite ;
The sweet aerial sylph, or seraph bright.

That sweeps thy strings with more than mortal skills
Although of frame too subtle for the sight.

May well a bard's imagination fill.

157'

Hark ! what a heavenly strain was there !

A dirge for some departed soul
Angels have taken to their care.

With kindred spirits to enroL
Such were the sounds that softly stc^e

Erewhiie on Cowper's faltering seose^
As onward he surveyed the goal

That hastened his departure

A bolder and a bolder note

To gladness now directs my miiid^
Like distant bells whose changes float

Across the water on the wind ; ^
To hail some married pair, designed

For mutual love, or mutual strife ;
By habit or by will inclin'd

To strange vicissitudes of life.

158

And while the rapid chariot roUs,

In noisy pride, the streets along ;
Attracts the gaze of vulgar souls.

And mocks and interrupts my song ;
How I despise the restless throng.

Who scorn the meed of sober thought ;
Whose pulses beat with rapture strong.

Whose transient bli^ is deariy bought !

That dying fall, which now succeeds

The uproar that subdued thy sound.
Tells me of many a heart that bleeds "^

With guilt in fashion's giddy round ;
Who never since their childhood found

A day, an hour of cheap repose.
But vainly thought their wishes crown'dj^

When riot with the morning xose.

159

The lofty song, the sprightly dance.

To them was life, to them was all.
The studied sigh, tlie wanton glance.

And all the arts that grace the ball.
My uuapproving heart appal ;

But while I listen to thy strains,
1 fit my mind for duty's call.

And bless the lot that pride disdains.

The trumpet tells of streaming blood.

Of valour's feats, of victory's prize.
Of broken hearts, and many a flood

Of tears tliat gush from widows' eyes.
But thy celestial breath supplies

With thoughts of peace and joy my mind ;
it lifts my soul above the skies

To transports for the just designed.

160

And when, arising on the final day.

Mortals shall hear the first immortal sound ;
When millions shall reluctantly obey

The call, and look in mute amazement round ;
Sensations purer still than e'er I found

From the light breeze, as over thee it blew.
Shall realize the fancied' spell that bound

My grosser sense, and prove the pleasure true.

161

STANZAS TO A FRIEJVD.

" Friendship ! mysterious cement of the sou] ;

Sweetner of life, and solder of society,

I owe thee much " Blaib.

Mart ! could any lay of mine
The deathless meed of fame award.

In praise of friendship such as thine.
The &vouring nine should aid the bard.

For thee, and for the much lov'd friend
With whom thy fate is linked on earth.

The grateful prayer shall long ascend
From one who deeply feek your worth.

162

In all your hopes, iu all your joys,
A brother's interest I must feel.

Nor less regret when aught annoys

Your peace, or mars your earthly weal.

With you in sununer's smiling eve»

I've rov'd through meads and vallies far.

Have seen bright Phoebus take his leave.
While sweetly rose tbd evening star.

On Deben's baniu, or through that wood
Which half conceals yon tower so grey.

We've stray'd, while in the chrystal flood
Reflected shone each leafy qpray.

How sweet at such an hour would seem
Each sound whidi met the listening ear«

The seaman's voice, or on the stream
The dashing oari approachu^ neaf :

163

Of distant flocks the plaintive bleat
Soft rising from the opposing shore t

Of martial sounds the cadence sweet.
Proclaiming day's departing hour.

Nor have our pleasures been confin'd
To summer's eve, or spring's gay bloom.

We've shared in autumn's bounty kind.
And brighten'd winter's sullen gloom.

Winter, whose nithleis hand arrays
Fair nature's charms in tragic stole.

But fans celestial friendship's blase.
Expands with social bliss the soul.

From Deben^s banks, where erst we strayed
And listea'd to the bleating fold ;

From hills where furze or broom diqplay'd
Their blossom'd pride in veins of goI4 :

164

From verdant mead, from shady lane.
Which charm'd erewliile, we now retire ;

Still dearest joys for us remain
Assembled round the cheerful fire.

How oft, when wintry winds howl'd wild.
The poef s or the historian's page.

The lingering evening hath beguil'd.
And baffled all the tempest's rage.

Thus, Mary, many an hour hath flown
Since Hymen's spell first fix'd thee here ;

Bright was the planet sure which shone
On him to whom thou'rt justly dear.

Nor be that gentle maid forgot

To whom, inspired by friendship's flame,
I gave, though nature owu'd it not.

In playful mood a sister's name.

165

She will not, by reserve estrang'd.
The tie fraternal reprehend ;

Time hath the name of stranger changed
To that of brother or of friend.

And though, when spring again shall bloom»
The friends, for whom I tune my lyre.

Must leave the bard in deepest gloom.
And far from Deben^fi banks retire ;

Yet still shall friendship love to dwell
On golden hours not spent in vain.

And flattering hope shall kindly tell
How gladly we shall meet again.

166

AN ADDRESS

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE

1Btiti0^ anti iFomgn Mbit S^wittp*

W^HILE, o'er the ensaDguin'd field, and ravaged plain

The Daemon War extends his ruthless sway ;
Can aught inspire the gratulating strain.

Or wake the lyre to notes of transport gay 1
Yes, Minstrel ! yes ; thou yet mayst pour the lay.

The song of praise and joy may yet be thine.
Arise ! to christian zeal thy tribute pay.

And hail the virtuous band who now combine
To spread through regions dark the light of truth divine.

167

Oh ! for a ''masters baud, and prophet's fire''

To strike with tenfold force the tuneful cord.
And sing that light, before whose beams retire

Enslaving ignorance, and vice abhorred.
Before that quick^iing ray, that powerful word.

The clouds of superstition pass away ;
The pure and peaceful kingdom of the Lord

The piercing eye of faith can then survey ;
Exulting feel its reign, and its decrees obey.

When IsraeFs sons, from Babylon retum'd,

Had rais'd their city's waUs so long overthrown ;
Replac'd the gates their fathers' foes had bum'd.

And made once more their fathers' home their o^vn;
With what intense delight till then unknown.

Did they repair again with awe to hear
The Sacred Book, wherein was clearly shown

Tht Almighty's will ; with what attentive ear
They heard its awful truths expounded by the seer.

168

E'en from the monung, 'till the mid-day smi

Shed hb fierce radiance on the listening throng;
With holy zeal to weeping sire and son

Ezra reveal'd the law neglected long :
And when he op'd the Book, both old and yoong

With pious reverence heard him bless the Lcnrd ;
With hands uplifted^ and assenting tongue.

They, as one man, combined with one accord
To praise the gracious Power their inmost souls adoi'd*

If such the transport felt in earlier time

When the mosaic law once more went forth ;
What inexpressive joy, what bliss sublime.

To spread the Gospel through the awakening earth !
To make that pearl of most transcendent worth

Free as the light, and conunon as the air ;
To give ui harden'd hearts contrition birth.

To prompt the sigh, to raise the secret prayer.
And make the slave of sm salvation's joyful heir !

169

Are there^ who can behold with jealous fear

This halkyw'd task, diis work of christiaii lo?e 1
Who, early taught their Bible to revere ;

Coldy distrust what candour must approve ?
Let such remember, that from God above

The revelation of his will was given.
And given fur all 1 that all on earth who strove

To know the just, the righteous will of heaven,
Jdi^t steer their course aright on life's rough ocean

driven.

Tliere are, alas ! in Britain's favoured isle

On whom hath dawn'd in vain the Gospel day ;.
Who sunk in vice, immersed in worldly toil.

In heathen darkness still benighted stray.
There are in climes and regions far away.

To whom the Gospel tidings ne'er were known.
On whom the star of Bethlehem's cheering ray.

To peace and joy conducting, never shone ;
Yet these with gratejfiil hearts its heavenly light shall own.

170

Oh ! while it sheds its opimating beams

Itt softest qpleodour, not intensely bright ;
From death-like slumbers, and unhallow'd dreams

Millions shall wake, and hail the au^ieiotts light !
Nature, exalting at the blissful s^ht.

Shall spread her charms to catch its lovely rays ;
The batted Tempter struck witli wild afiright,

Dreadmg the Gospel sun's meridian blace,
BtaspbtBies the rising mom which meets his eovious gait

i I 1 1 III

3ss=e

171

EPITAPH,

Stranger ! this epitaph is not designM
To praise or censure him who sleeps beneath ;

For praise b useless, censure is unkind.

When life's important task is clos'd by death.

To rouse the living ; to awake the fear

Of trembling age, and fix the youthful choice ;

The dead shall speak. Oh ! with attention hear.
While health and life are thine, the warning voice.

172

Time may be lost» and sooo shall be destroyed :
No watchman cries the hour beneath the sod.

^eath dost thou dread ? the sting of death avoid :
Seek'st thou for pleasure ? learn to please thy GOD.

173

SONNET

TO MY DAUGHTER.

*SwEET pledge of joys departed! as I lay
Wrapt in deep slumber, I beheld thee, led
By thy angelic mother, long since dead :

Methought that on her face such smiles did play,.

As gild the summer's morning. A bright ray
Of lambent glory stream'd around her head*
I gaz'd enraptured : love had banish'd dread.

As light the shades of darkness drives away.
Silent awhile ye stood ! I could not move,

Such sweet delight my senses did o'erpower;
When, in mild accents of celestial love.

Thy guardian spoke : ** cherish this opening flower

With care parental ; then some future hour
Shall reunite your soub in bliss above.''

174

RETROSPECTIVE STANZAS.

\V HEN first from that bewitchiog eye
A humid^ trembling glance I caught ;

Unbidden rose the pensive sigh

Of infant love» with rapture fraught.

But when I fancied I perceived
Thy bosom throb with sighs like mine*

From every fear and doubt relieved.
My pulse beat high with bliss divine.

175

And while, thy faltering tongue confest
My conquest of thy spotless heart ;

My soul the welcome accents blest.
And chid the tear which dared to start.

Prophetic tear ! ah, had I known
The tei^ure of the blessing given;

How frail, how soon for ever flown*
The dreadfiil truth my heart had riven !

Hiat eye where once with joy I read

Thought answering thought, so bright before.

Weeps not to see the tears I shed :
Its gentle lustre charms no more.

That bosom, which once own'd the spell
Of heaven-bom love, now still and cold.

No more, with half unconcious swell.
Its secret feelings shall unfold.

176

Those accents once so soft, so dear.

Which sooth'd my throbbiug heart to peace ;

No more shall bless my listeniog ear
For death hath bid them ever cease.

But never, never 'till I die —
'Till deep in earth I lie like thee.

Shall memory fiiil to ckiim a sigh
Of bitter, .fond regret from me.

177

PRINCE HOEI/S SONG,

FROM

domj^ep'ss s^at^ot.

1 VE harness'd thee my steed of grey ;

And thou shalt bear me to the walls.
Where, in dazzling splendour gay.

Bright the glittering sun-beam falls.

Dear to me those walls so white^
When I wake, and when I dream ;

Where, before my fair one's sight.
Floats the sea-mew on the stream.

178

How I love the storm-struck dwellin;^

Which the restless ocean laves !
Ou its walls, so proudly swelling.

Ever break the sounding waves.

There she dwells, the shapely maiden.
Fairer than the ocean spray ;

Lovelier than the charms displayed in
Flora's garden bed in May^

Still for her I ceaseless pine ;

See but her in crowded halls ;
When the sun's bright beams decline

Fancy flies to those dear walls.

1 throughout the sleepless night
Thuik of her, 'till health is flown ;

Fled the visions of delight.
The flush of youth for ever gone.

179

Pale as ocean to the view
On a dreary sunless mom ;

Victini of a love too true,
Still for her I pine forlorn.

I pine for her ; yet heave a sigh
Of tender pity while I pine.

That she should view with scornful eye
A love so pure, so warm as mine.

112

180

DOVE BALE.

A DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH.*

How beautiful the scene, where winding Dove,

Her waters echouig to the cliffs above.
Pours o'er a rocky bed her limpid stream.
Foaming and sparkling in the noon tide beam.

Enchanting river ! thougli thy scenes demand
A loftier song, a more experienced hand ;
Yet will I strive from memory to pourtray
The awful grandeur which thy banks display.

• Written after yiating it in 1809.

181

Thy huge grey rocks, with verdant foliage drest.
Whose forms grotesque the wondenug eye arrest ;
The low stone walls, the sheep-folds' simple bound ;
The solemn stillness which presides around^
Save when the bleating sheep, or murmuring stream.
Awake the traveller from his pleasing dream ;
All, all conspire to soothe the troubled breast
With pensive joys, and lull the mind to rest.
From morn 'till evening on thy banks I rov'd.
The more I saw, the more the scene I lov'd ;
And when behind the mountain's lofty head
The sun descended, and bright day light fled ;
The solemn shades of evening spreading slow
Sublimely darken'd all the vale below ;
Reluctant then I took a farewell view.
And bade a long, perhaps a last adieu ;
Yet often stopt, by, fond regret inclined.
To " cast one longing lingering look behind/'

M 3

182

STANZAS ON WOMAN,

« O Woman ! in our hours of ease.
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please.
And variable as the shade
By the light quivering aspen made;"

WAI.TEB Scott.

jtlAST thou not mark'd the smiling deep

All tranquil and serene ;
When every zephyr seem'd asleep.

How lovely was the scene 1
The murmuring sound of breaking waves.

The sun's resplendent beam.
Each sight, each sound the mind enslaves.

And aids the pleasing dream.

183

But soon, too soon the calm is past.

The pleasing scene is o'er ;
And, driven before the dreadful blast.

The waves tremendous roars
No more delighted by the view.

We strive to gain the shore ;
Bid Neptune's element adieu.

And tempt the deep no more.

Hast thou not seen the blushing rose

Expand her beauties wide ;
While every gale which round her blows.

With fragrance is supplied ?
Attracted by the lovely sight

Such varied charms disclose.
We haste to rifle with delight

The bush whereon it grows ;

184

But soon we find a thorn concealed

Beueatli the beauteous flower ;
And stung with pain we gladly yield

What tempted us before ;
Then opening buds, and blossonois gay

Delude the eye no more,
Experience clears the mists away.

And fancy's reign is o'er.

So lovely woman charms our youth.

And prompts the frequent sigh ;
Arra/d in innocence and truth.

She strikes the wandering eye.
Officious fancy lends her aid

And whispers love and joy ;
We think, could we dbtain the maid.

Of bliss without alloy.

185

Forbear^ rash youth ! the fruitless chase»

First let thy guileless heart.
From prudence wisely learn to trace

The snares of female art :
Their only wish to be admired.

They shoot the random dart ;
The conquest gain'd, they soon are tir'd.

Nor strive to heal the smart.

The glass, the toilette all their care.

And unimproved their mind ;
What man of sense their smiles would share.

To fools and coxcombs kind :
Ah pause ! ingenuous youth, nor brave

The dangers yet behind ;
Dangers more dreadful than the wave.

Or stormy northern wind.

186

The rose's thorny stalk — the sea

With waves tempestuous foaniing^
Speaks as it roars, and speaks to thee.

It says beware of Woman !
Far more inconstant than the breeze

Which is for ever roaming ;
By art, by nature form'd to teaze^

Is lovely faithless Woman.

187

STANZAS

IN ANSWER TO THE PRECEDING.

" The gust o* joy, the balm of woe.
The saul o' life, the heaven below,

Is rapture-giving Woman." — Bvbw t.

x BS Crito, I have seen the deep
Its varied charms disclose ;

Have seen the dews of morning steep
The fragrance of the rose :

But all their loveliness combined

Cannot compare with Woman-kind.

188

O sex belov'd! how oft tliis<rheart

Hath own'd thy magic sway ;
Thy gentler friendship void of art.

Hath beamed its lambent ray : •
My hand shall tonch the trembling strmg.
And every tongue thy praise shall sing.

When gloomy grief, and pining care

The anguished bosom rend,
'Tis thine the bitter cup to share,

A firm and faithful friend :
Thy smile can banish every tear
And check each vain foreboding fear.

The task is tliine in early youtli.

With mild persuasive voice,
To paint the radiant charms of truth.

And fix the infant choice.
Long will I raise the filial prayer.
For her who made my youth her care.

189

When time, witlf rapid ceaseless course^
Conducts to manhood's prime ;

In thee we find a copious source
Of happiness sublime.

Oft shall this bosom heave a sigh

For her who doubled every joy.

When fell disease exerts its power^

And holds its torpid reign ;
'Tis thme to mitigate the hour.

And soften every pain :
To smooth the restless bed of death.
And catch the last expiring breath.

From life's commencemept to its close

To thee the task is given.
To meliorate our varied woes.

And form on earth a heaven.
Without thee 'ti^ a vale of tears.
But with thee Paradise appears.

190

For thee, base wretch I whose impious tongne

Hath sung of female guile^
Still rest assured on such a song

No muse will waste a smile.
They view thy labours with disdain.
Nor bless the rash,, unhallow'd strain*

When Crito and his spiteful page

Shall be by all forgot.
Some bard shall sing in every age

Fair Woman's happier lot ;
Her worthy her excellence proclaim.
And man shall venerate her name.

191

VERSES

TO AN OLD AND TRIED FRIEND.

Jb OR truest friendship^ love sincere,
Unnumber'd acts of kindness shown ;

Accept, I ask it with a tear.
The thanks which justly are thy own.

Long, long hast thou indulgent shared
My hours of bliss, my days of grief;

For all my sorrows kindly cared.
And to my troubles brought relief.

192

Whether again we meet or not
The powers above can only know ;

But sure I ain, whate er my lot.

My heart with love for thee shall glow.

Farewell ! one silent starting tear
My deejvfelt gratitude shall own ;

But ah ! the debt contracted here,
God can repay in Heaven alone.

193

STANZAS

TO AN AFFECTIONATE AND PIOUS PARENT,
ON THE DEATH OF HER CHflLD.

When good old Jacob moumM his child.

How bitter were the tears he shed !
With garments rent, in angubh wild.

He sorrow'd for his Joseph dead.
He moum'd his hopes for ever fled^

And said that, even to his tomb.
Grief should bow down his aged head

For Joseph's melancholy doom.

194

But hark ! what sounds salute my ear ?

Sorrow inspures the artless lay ;
A pious parent's frequent tear

Laments her Joseph snatch'd away;
But, though to deepest grief a prey.

She humbly strives to kiss the rod ;
She owns the debt that all must pay.

Nor doubts the justice of her God.

But let us not too harshly blame

The good old Patriarch's anguish sore ;
Well might his much lov'd Joseph claim

A father's sorrow when no more :
Nor can the proud, the boasted lore

Of this refin'd, enlightened age,
A mother's lost delights restore,

A mother's natural grief assuage.

195

What makes the difference ? Grace alone ;

'Tia grace divine, with cheering ray,
Hath made a brighter prospect known,
' Hath ushered in a happier day.
Tlie patriarch trod his weary way.

No gospel smi had dawn'd on him ;
'Twas his at twilight's hour to stray.

When truth's clear lamp shone pale and dim.

Yet even then the still small voice.

Assuming a prophetic tone.
Oft bade his trembling heart rejoice

In scenes unveU'd to faith alone.
By faith's pure influence made his own:

With humble gratitude inspir'd.
He blest the glorious light that shone

On Judah, and in hope expir'd.

N 2

196

The patriarch's hope, the prophet's theme.

The pious christian's heart-felt joy
At length is come ; its matchless scheme

Hath been proclaim'd from heaven on high :
Life, light, and inmiortality

Now shine reveal'd ; beyond the tomb
The christian's vision can descry

A blissful rest, a tranquil home.

And wilt thouy christian ! then feunent

Like him whose every hope is fled.
When life's short feverish day is vptnt^

Those whom it numbers with the demi ?
No, rather lift thy weary head.

Raise from the dust thy tearful eye^
When nature's pious drops are shed.

Let faith her cordial eop apply.

197

For thee, who pour'st thy plaintive strain,
Lament no more thy Joseph s flight

From scenes of sorrow, sin, and pain»
To reahns of endless pure delight*

At times shall burst upon thy sight

A seraph form, thy griefs to c^dm,

Scattering from pinions dazzling bright
Kind drops of Gilead's healing balm.

Hovering .unseen thy steps around

Its soothing voice shall greet thy ear ;
Shall tell what blessings still abound.

And gently chide the falling tear. ,
A husband's sympathy sincere

In grief's dark hour some stay may prove ;
One hopeful pledge is left to cheer

Thy closing days with filial love.

198

Thine too that gentle soothing aid

Which friendship yields the wounded heart;
Does pilling grief thy breast invade 1

Let willing friendship bear her part.
Do pensive tears unbidden start,

As memory brings the past to view ?
Let faitliful friendship's blameless art

Share every pang, and heal it too.

But friendship soon or late must prove.

On earth at least, a fleeting dream ;
Both conjugal and filial love

]V(ay shed a bright but transient beam.
When these decay, and life shall seem

A barren waste, a gloomy void ;
Then, what a source of bliss supreme

Is found in talents well employ'd.

199

Thine is that bliss ; then Oh ! what cauM

For heart-felt gratitude is thine ;
In death's dread hour the hearf s applause

Can yield a pleasure half divine*
If at that hour unclouded shine

That path which all the just have trod^
The soul with rapture shall resign

Its hopes and fears, and fly to God.

200

SONNET*

Slander ! thy name I will not woman call.
For often, in the garb of either sex,
I see thee play thy sorry pranks to vex

Thy betters from the cottage to the hall.

Whether with wining tongue, or crafty scrawl.
Thou circulate thy blasphemies abroad.
Truth holds a mirror to reflect thy fraud.

And justice hath decreed thy speedy fall.
Then shall the fiends that followed in thy train
Be foremost to pursue thee with disdain.

And only folly at thy fate repine :

Malice shall charge thee with her foul misdeeds.
And injured innocence, whose bosom bleeds.

Shall hear with pity every plaint but thine. «

SOI

AN EJLEGY.

' X WAS at the silent hour when Fancy dream9
Of what delights, or what distracts the mind;

Promotes or disappoints the worldly schemes
Of mortals to their heavenly interest blind ;

She bore me far, with instantaneous flight.
Through torrid regions of the eastern sky ;

Brought objects new before my wondering sight.
And absent friends to my remembrance nigh.

20-2

Awhile forgetful of my native shore

I leap*d with joy on India's burning sand.

As if of future happiness my store

Lay ready there, and that were fiury land.

I heard the pestilential breezes sigh

Through spicy groves with blossoms ever gay.
And every object that entic'd my eye

Seem'd to betoken one eternal May.

But while I gaz'd, a melancholy band

With solemn step and slow approached the spot.

Whose silence told me that the mighty hand
Of Death had fix'd another victim's lot.

The sable vestments, and the friendly tear .

That many a downcast eye in sorrow shed,
Plainly bespoke the soul departed dear

To those from whom it had so lately fled.

203

The crowd retir'd ; instinctively I sought

The place wherein the poor remains were laid ;

And contemplation to my memory brought

Those once belov'd who nature's debt had paid*

But, while I moum'd, on my attentive ear
Faint accents fell, low murmuring from above.

Some guardian spirit's voice to calm my fear.

And soothe my sorrowing heart with strains of love^

Stranger ! forbear. Suppress the rising sigh.
Nor idly thus bewail the slumbering dead ;

Go number rather all the hours that fly
In quick succession o'er thy troubled head.

What though tlie youth who silent rests below.
Has prematurely met his earthly doom ;

What though his generous breast no more shall glow
With love, nor friendship call the wand'rer home :

204

Yet the same hour which summons from their graves
His mouldering kindred on Britannia's shore.

And the same trump, resounding o'er the waves.
Shall bid the Indian dead to sleep no more.

And say, when summoned to the realms on high^

If to the soul eternal bliss be given ;
What boots it where we heave our parting sigh ?

** Or whence the soul triumphant springs to beavcn f '

When Howard's spirit, from Tartarian plains,
Wing'd its glad flight to virtue's blest abode.

Seraphic harps awoke celestial strains.
Attendant angels guided it to God.

Mourn not the virtuous dead ; the living claim
Far more than they the pensive, friendly tear ;

Be it o'er sufTeriug innocence thy aim
To shed the balm of sympatliy sincere.

205

Go teach the maid, who mourns in silent grief
Fraternal ties by death's stern mandate broke.

To seek in resignation for relief.

And bow submissive to the afflictive stroke.

Teach her to add to every winning grace.
Which art and nature lavishly bestow ;

That greatest charm, which time can ne'er ef!ace^
Humble devotion's animating glow.

Bid her by revelatioii's light explore

Pleasures remote, and joys beyond the tomb.

Then nay exulting faith triumphant soar

Where heavenly peace shall smile, and bliss im-
mortal bloom.

ebbs:

206

WALTER SCOTT, ESQ,

ON READING HIS

llaOp of tge ]ta&e^

Minstrel ! why hangs on yonder elm nnstnnig

Tliat harp whose strains' to listening thousands dear.
Could, when thy hand across its strings was flung.

Both touch the heart, and captivate the ear?
If valour's partial smile, or beauty's tear

Repaid in earlier time its magic strain.
Small cause hast thou, enchanting bard ! to fear

That thou the lay shalt ever tune in vain.
Rejoice without applause, without redress complain*

207

'Tis thine with fairy pencil to pourtray

The striking beauties of the highland scene ;
The lonely glen, where scarce the solar ray

Can penetrate the spreading boughs between ;
The towering crags, bedeck'd with foliage green.

The lake which laves the foot of Benvenue,
Now dark with clouds, now bright with suiunaer sheen;

The landscape's varied chamis delight the view.
Glittering in moming^s beams, or evening's richer hue.

Whether thy song commemorate the Graeme,

Or prompt for Douglas the relenting sigh ;
Or royal James, disguised in humble name.

Or savage Roderick, Alpine's chief be nigh ;
Or whether pearly drop from Ellen's eye

Awake the gentler feelings of the heart ;
'Tis thine, bewitching bard ! each theme to try

Which joy, or grief, or wonder can impart ;
Can cause the breast to throb or pitying tear to start.

208

Oh ! strike once more the Caledonian Lyre,

Which silent hangs on Fillan's wizard tree ;
The flowing numbers fiancy shall inspire.

And breathe a Lay romantic, rich, and free.
From barren Caithness to the southern sea.

Shall every clan unite to spread thy fame ;
Each scotish maid shall weave a wreath for thee.

Each rocky cliff reverberate thy name.
And every tongue combine thy glory to proclaim.

2(H) •

VAJLEDICTORY STANZAS.

Must we then part, sweet maid, for aye ?
And wilt thou not, when far away.
Remember him, who many a day
Hath lov'd thee most sincerely 1

Canst thou, enchanting girl ! forget
When absent that we once have met 1
Or must that star for ever set

Which^ rising, shooe so brightly 1

210

Oil ! if it must, believe me, fair !
My warmest wishes thou shalt share ;
And oft shall rise my ferveut prayer
For t)ue so good and lovely.

May guardian angels blessmgs shed,
Watch o'er the path thy feet may tread ;
Bright visions hovering round thy bed.
Smile on thee late and early.

And, shouldst thou ever think on me.
Oh ! be that thought but worthy thee I
^Tis all I ask : thy heart is free.

Though mine must suffer deq)ly.

Whate'er may be our future lot,
O dearest girl ! forget me not :
This faithful heart, by thee forgot.
Would break with grief, or nearly.

211

But I would rather cease to live
In thy remembrance, than perceive
That any thought of me could give
Thy heart a moment's agony.

Yet even then, the pensive sigh.
The tender thought, the tearful eye.
Pledges of happier hours gone by.

Should prove how well I lov'd thee.

O 2

212

VERSES

ON READING HAYLEY's LIFE OF COWPER.

iHANKSy Hayley, for this portrait of the bard,

Whose sacred strain hath often charm'd mine eaf
Thou need'st not wish a more sublime reward.

Than thy own labours have secured thee here.
Posterity shall gratefully revere

Thy efforts to increase the poet's fame ;
And, while they shed for him the tender tear.
Shall yield thy services the meed they claim>
And style thee Cowper's Friend, a proud and envie
name.

213

Cowper 1 in virtue's ever sacred cau8e>

Thy magic harp by power divine was strung.
To vindicate those just, those righteous laws

Once {H^each'd on earth by more than mortal tongue;
And as thy hand across its cords "was flung,

As keen reproof or consolation flowed.
Vice own'd thy powers, by deep conviction stung ;

Reviving virtue lighter felt her load.
With energy divine the christian's bosom glow'd.

But 'tis not in the Bard alone we trace

That peerless merit which we all admire ;
Though ruthless time itself can ne'er efface

The well eamfd triumphs of thy sacred lyre.
Those modest charms which timidly retire.

And shun the obtrusive glare of public day.
That winning gentleness which must ini^ire

With purest rapture friendship's hallowed sway.
Shed o'er thy private life a mild and sober ray.

214

Ill-fated Minstrel ! though the feverish dream

Of mental anarchy, with dreadful gloom,
Obscur'd the light of hope's celestial beam.

And scarcely left thee at the opening tomb.
Yet let not finite arrogance presume

To doubt the goodness of that gracious God,
Whose wise decree pronounc'd thy early doom,

And bade thee tread the melancholy road.
Which leads through conflict dire to virtue's calm abode

But while eternal Ti'uth'a resistless ray

Extends its pure invigorating light
So long as Hope with sweet, delusive sway.

Can cheer the soul with prospects gay and bright
While Convet'sation's social charms invite

Tl^quit Retirement, and to join the throng.
So long shalt thou with undisputed right

Maintain tliose glorious honours which belong
To Christian Bards alone, and Virtue's awful song.

21^

Exposfulatiou may in vain be given,^

Errwr'8 deceitfiil Progi'ess clearly shoi!^.
Presumptuous science strive to scale that heaves

Obtain'd by works of Charitp alone ;
A parent's aching heart with anguish own

The truths thy Tirocinium may display^
Still shall the merits of thy verse be known,

Still shall thy Task a pure delight convey,
Asd Cowpec's fame survive though ages |)ass away.

216

CALEDONIE.

Sweet are Italians flowery plainsy
Where Mantuan shepherds pour'd their strains;
But more euchanting beauty reigns
In smiling Caledonie.

Though lovely Gallia's lily blows.
And gaily blooms proud England's rose.
Fearless and brave thj^ thistle grows.
Stem, hardy Caledonie !

217

TLougfa Tiber's banks proud Fame resound^
Though Seine and Avon be renown'd ;
As clear, as h>vely streams are found
Gliding through Caledonie*

Who has not heard of Teviot's fiunel
Of Tweed's, of Ayr's, of Lagar's name ?
Long shall their braes exulting claim
The song of Cidedome*

Why talk of Andes' giant height.
Or fiery Etna's dazeling light,
When tnany a fnountain greets the sight
In good old Caledonie 1

Ben Lomond, bursting on the sky,
Benledi's ridgy summit high.
And Benvenue attract the eye,
Towering in Caledonie I

^18

E'en now iKrithin those mountains' bound
Whose cliffs on haughty Edward frown'd»
A brave and hardy race are founds
The pride of Caledonie.

Men, in whose proud indignant ire
Burns unsubdued that patriot fire.
Which prompted Wallace to expire
With joy for Caledonie.

Still pure, unsullied flows that blood
Which dyed of yore in purple flood
The field of Bannockbum, whele stood
A Bruce for Caledonie.

And still survive those softer charms.
Which, when the warrior doff'd his arms.
Amply repaid for war's alarms
The sons of Caledonie.

219

While Poesy, whose lore refin*d
At ouce instructs and charms the mind.
Indulgent marks with a^)ect kind
Her favorite Caledonie;

And though in every land she sways
Her sceptre^ and her power displays;
She pours her brightest, strongest blaze
Of light on Caledonie.

There, soaring high above a crowd
Of Poets with each grace endowed
Shines Bums, con^icuous, peerless^ proud.
The Bard of Caledonie !

Unrivaird Poet ! o'er thy grave
Shall bloom the wreath which Coila gave ;
And mournful in the breeze shall wave
Thy thistle, Caledonie.

220

Though bursting on the dmxzl'd sights
Tliy genius, like some meteor bright
Efiiilgent blas'd, then sunk in night ;
Yet still shall Caledonte

O'er all thy crimes and follies weep :
And mourn, in anguish proud and deep,
That^ all unstrung, should idly sleep
The Lyre of Caledonie.

Short slumber; for by fancy fir'd
By feats of Border chiefe iniqpir'd,
Scott now invokes, with eeal untir'd.
The muse of Caledonie.

Of peerless maids in beauty's prime.
Of knighthood's dauntless deeds sublime.
Of tales which charmM in olden time
The ear of Caledonie

The minstrel sings : with fond delight.
Enraptured fancy wings her flight
To feudal days, ere Albion's nufht
Had conquered Caledonie.

But dares my trembling hand to stray
Those cords along, whence rose the Lay
Of Chivalry's unclouded day.
Sacred to Caledonie ?

Vain, V9in the task ! like morning dew.
As bright, as dear, as transient too«
The won jfkdes — ^A long adieu
To bomiie Cakdonie.

222

THE THISTLE,

4I>DRESS*D TO THB AUTHOUR OF CALEDONIE,

HBp a ^rotrS 3ldti|t.

1 HB Illy of France m your song is ponrtra/ci^
Nor forgotten the sweet English rose ;

Let the shamrock of Erin expand its green leaf.
While the thistle undauntedly grows.

iThe thistle of Scotland ! her boast and her pride.

Who e'er tried to pluck it must know.
Like her brave hardy sons it resists the fell gripe.

And avenges itself on the foe.

223

Should the luercilesB spoiler accomplish his aim.
Full soon would his triumph be o'er;

For its seedlings in haughty defiance should rise.
And brave the attack as before.

Though beauty and sweetness distinguish the rose.

To the robber how easy a prey !
The ruthless invader derides all its thorns.

And bears its gay blossoms away.

While arm'd at all points with its prickles around.

The thistle asserts its proud reign ;
It heeds not the soil, or the climate, but decks

The bleak mountain and fertilized plain.

And why should it not? when by nature designed
/
With the bright English rose to compare;

What it tas not in beauty it makes up in strength ;

May they mingle in luve ever noiair.

ERRATA.

Page 17, 1. 11, after hasten dele thou.

20 — 6, after the dele the.

29 — 2, for when'er read whene'er.

51 — 10, for heigten'd read heightened.

53 — 9, for beautious read beauteous.

53 — 14, for incence read incense.

56 — 12, for an read a.

70 — 15, for hymenonal read hymen^aL
i33 — 2, for ever read every.
148 — 16, for then read than.
200 — 5, for wining read whining.

I$(. LoDER, Printer,
Woodbridge.

c«s

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Full text of "Metrical Effusions, Or Verses on Various Occasions"

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