953

&356S
erst

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

OSTREA;

OR,

THE LOVES OF THE OYSTERS.

A LAY

BY

A. FISHE SHELLY, ES

NEW YORK:
T. J. CROW EN, G99 BROADWAY.

1857.

£53

THE following capriccio was put together
for the writer's diversion, and is printed for
that of a few friends.

Without further comment, it is submitted
to any others, in whose hands it may chance
to fall, and who may care to peruse such a
trifle.

"SEMEL INSANIVIMUS OMNES."

M375316

Introduction ano

"THE Oylter is a creature that perambulated! the bottom
of the Tea, and abforbeth nutriment from the limofity thereof"
— faith the venerable ALFREDUS in his treatife "Ds PRODIGIIS;"
and farther — *' It hath for its muniment and protection two
conches, or VALVUL^E, and therein advantageth the TESTUDO or
SHELL-CRAB which is mighty vulnerable between the joints of
his belly." It hath been moft frequently the fubjecl of in-
quifition and comment by learned writers, both neoterick and
antient ; and hath been the comfort and folacement of the
people of all times, and ever held in high dignity and repute.
This creature was known of old to the Philifbei, and to the
Sidonians, and to all the people that did Ikirt the MEDITER-
RANEUM. The Colchians alfo did fetch them from the Euxine,
and the Samothracians from the mores of the ^Egean. They
were matters of great favor and relifh (GRATI SAPORIS), it is
alfo reported, among the inhabitants of Cyprus, and becaufe
the Jews did hold them, as well as all Shell fim, as an abomina
tion, the Cypriots did make a law, that if any Jew mould be
call on their coafts, he mould be ftraightways knocked in
the head; which fhoweth that they did rate and repute this
£fh even beyond the life of man. But efpecially were they
held in efteem among the Romans, who did beftow wondrous

6

pains upon the procreation and fattening thereof. The fhorcs
of the Hellefpont were mainly fruitful therein. " ORA HEL-
LESPONTIA CJETERIS osTREosioR oRis." We read alfo of the
" OSTRIFERI FAUCES AsiDi." But above all, were they famed
that were raifed in the LACUS LUCRINUS, of which HORATIUS
fpeaketh as " LUCRINA CONCHYLIA," and which he did ufc to
wafh down with his Lefbian wine.

" CAPACIORES, AFFER HUC, PUER, SCYPHOS,
ET CHI A VINA, AUT LESBIA."

To which lake were they brought and fed from Brundufium,
alfo in great repute therefor ; as, alfo, from Baias, where were
planted the firft Oyflcr-beds by one Scrgius, as Pliny tcllcth,
"SERGIUS GRATA, PRIMUS, OSTREARIA IN BAJANO LOCAVIT."
To Italy, alfo, were moft excellent ones fetched from Rutupia,
in England, in the time of Juvenal,

" RUTIPINOVE EDITA FUNDO
OSTREA "

It is related by Gemiftus Viaticus, the Cosmographcr, of
one JEHORAX, King of Mefopotamia, that he was wont to
divine by them, and that, DUM VENERIT JUDICARE, he did ufc
to confult a vaticinating cock, before entering upon any work
of great import, and, alfo, a divining box of living oyfters ; and
that he would regulate himfelf according to the manner that
they did feverally gape unto him.

In the antient time, in England, were they alfo in great
liking and ilore ; whereof it is faid " LES GENTZ DU ROYAUMB

SONT USEZ PLUS QUE NUL PART AILLEURES J M and, alfo, OH thfi

Southern-weftermoft coaft of Scotland, where they were
planted and forwarded, and of the right to the beds, whereof
great difscnfions and differences did arife, and for the fettle-
ment whereof it is ftated in the REGIAM MAJESTATEM, that,

"WHEN YE TWELVE ROYALL MEN COMPEER AND PASS UPON YE
ASSIZE, THEY SHALL PROCEEDE AND TRYE QHUILK OF YE PARTYES,
YE PERSEWER, OR YE DEFENDANT, HATH BEST RIGHT TO YE LONDS
CLAMED."

GRLDLLWGL, the learned Welchman, alfo extolleth them, in
his " LLW RHTHWR LRWLL," as, alfo, Salvianus, in his work
"Dfi PISCIUM NATURA ET PREPERATIONE ;" altho', he faith, that
they do, if much partaken of, difpofe to melancholy, and to
the feeing, in one's fleep, of phantoms and incubi.

It is related by Pontoppidan, that Elfhelm, one of the Kings
of the Weft-Saxons, did ordain that three fcore mould be fat
tened daily for his wife, who did mightily affect them; and
alfo of one Og, a tyrant of the Icthyophagi, that he did use
to regale, himfelf with a thoufand fricafseed daily, for his break-
faft. Peter of Banbury relateth that he did merrily feaft, at
Chcfter, upon Chriftmas, with the antient fraternity of the
wax- chandlers, of oyfters and Hippocras.

ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO relateth of a certain Duke of
Mufcovy, that he did ufc to keep one to fport withal, as
others ufe to do with a lap dog, and that, when angered, it
would quaver with its chaps, as Jackanapes are wont to do
when in choler.

8

The tafle thereof is mighty palateable, and like no other
living thing. It is mucous in its humours, "GLUTINOSUS
CIBUS," and pafseth readily down the gullet or meat-pipe, and
the much eating thereof doth fatten the body and fortify and
comfort the fpirits. It is defended, externally, by two lamel-
lated ihells or valves, whereof the under or convex one ad-
hereth at times to rocks at the bottom of the fea, or to an
other individual, and, as fome maintain, doth not move there
from, but is nourifhed and comforted thereat by the influxion
of the tide that bringeth it food and nutriment ; while others
contend that it hath the power of tardy motion or gradefcence,
and creepeth, or proceedeth by little and little, saltatorially.

The outer (hells are hinged or incardinated at the bafe, and
indurate and fcaly, SQUAMOSO CORPORE; not denticulated like
the fcallop, or fpiral as the periwinkle, but CICATRICOSUS, full
of chops and gaihes, the which, if handled heedleflly, may cut
one, for Pliny fays "NECTUTUM EST QUOD CICATRICOSUM."

This creature hath a heart and vefsels for the conduit of the
blood ; and it is fympathetic and herdeth with its kind ; and, as
Gomefms maintained!, doth, like other fifhes, pine away for
love, and wax lean. Even so love tyranifeth, yea, even in
dumb creatures ! And what saith Virgil ?

" ET GENUS ^QUOREUM, PECUDES, PICT^EQUE VOLUCRES
IN FURIAS IGNEM QUE RUUNT ; AMOR OMNIBUS IDEM."

And likewife well, Propertius :

" HlC DEUS, ET TERRAS, ET MARIA ALTA DOMAT."

9

It appeareth, too, that, like all lovers, it hath great inclination
and concordance with the Moon, for it is faid, " OSTREIS ET

CONCHYLLIS OMNIBUS CONTINGIT UT CUM LuNA PARITER CRES-

CANT, PARITERQUE DECREscANT." For the wherefore it may
be concluded a' creature of great fympathies and fenlibilities,
and well worthy of note and confideration. But efpecially is
it a moil fweet, pleafant, and delectable thing to them that do
affect good cheer and the joys of the table, for it may be pre
pared and accommodated in many curious faihions and dis-
pofitions, to fuit the tafte of each that would partake thereof;
and of a verity doth it afford a moll enjoyable nutriment and
ravifhing regalement ; being both dainty, juicy, unctuous, and
otherwife palateable in itfelf, as well as fanitary and ad van- '
tageous in its confequences and effects ; and in footh, altoge
ther, moft refrefhing and comforting to the body, and cheer
ing to the fpirits ; and is always, efpecially in thefe days, held in
great odour and repute by all staunch Epicureans and valiant
good trenchermen.

To Ye, then, my moft faftidious anti-Pythagorean Knights
of the Refectory, my lively, winfome and moft anti-lenten
Signor Marrow-finders, my very hey-dey good Don Cofsacks
of the Larder, my moft cheery and ntmble-witted Epulators,
my humourous, trickfy, airy, and waggiih Bafhaws of the Buf
fet, my dainty defiderating Diih familiars, my roiftering Monks
of the order of the SANTO RAGOUT, my grinding, gulping, gorg
ing, fluffing, tucking, bolting Brobdignagians of the Ordinary,
my moft jolly and popinaceous Gala-day Junketers, my
1*

10

triumphant Sir Carollers of the order of the TABULAM, my
canny, convivacious Cormorants, my brifk, merry-making
Cock-a-hoops of the Larder, my Flagellators of the flelh-pots,
my palmy, playfome Platter pepperers, my pliant, cunning,
dabbling, good neighbour Pottagers, my WHAT ? — YES-TO-BE,
SURE-BY-ALL-MEANS Cavilleros of the order of St. Babingoofe,
my moft Hilarous and fprightly Mafticators, my lively Lads of
the Locker, my nozzling, gambolling Skip-jacks, my jocund,
fportive, gleeful, fpirited, roguifh, fall-to-and-fatten-bully Bil
bos of the Skillet, my vivacious and double-gummed Cocina-
ceous Utopians — To Ye, then, my buxom pan Enfiladers, my
lordly, pecky, approved good Paladins of the belly, my munch
ing, paunching Pottle-breakers, my fly Sepoys of the Pantry,
my keen, nicking nofe-pointers of St. Boniface, my folicitant,
jubilant Fodder-finders, my HALLO J-WHAT-INDEED-ARE-YOU-
THERE Camarados of the Cociilum, my gobbling, edacious, Demo -
crititian Partifans, my rub-a-dub Guerillas of the Commifsariat,
my moft worihipful, moft unctuous ET REVERENDISSIMI high
Pontifices of the temple of ST. VENTER, my capering, gypfical
Pals of the Pabulum, my exulting, light-hearted Chop-waggers,
my fat, wheezing Pigs of Epicurus, my crop-filling, craw-ftuf-
fing, gizzard-puffing, Phalacrocoratian Parafites, my nimble-
toothed Hidalgos of the EPIDEPNIS, and moft worihipful Grand
Inquifitors of the Stew-pan— -to Ye, and all of Ye, COLLETIVE ET
DISTRIBUTIVE, do I, your humble fervant, DEDICO ET CONCEDO
that which followeth.

;'•»• TESTACEUS.

11

As SOME young Pigeon of a farm-yard flock,
No more content, at home, to fill his crop
With slugs and bugs, which, still, the daily care
Of anxious parent would provide him there ;
But, grown ambitious, now aspires to try
His wings, as others do, and aims to fly
For friendly tree-top, or some neighboring hill
Fecundative ; whence, stoutly, challenge shrill
Proud Chanticleer sends forth, and craning far,
Defies each answering rooster to the war
Galliginous ! —

Th' ambitious Squab, now balancing in air
His small anatomy, with painful care
Essays his flight, and fluttering all amain
His unused wings, now up, now down again,
Or falls or rises ; but no progress makes,
Unless some friendly bird compassion takes ;

12

With kindly care, affords his .stronger wing
To aid the weakness of the little thing ;
Assists his powers and directs his flight,
And lands, at length, him safely from his plight
Aerial —

So thou, 0 Muse ! assist the feeble flight
Of me, ambitious, as I plume my wing
From attic window to the heavenly spring
Castalian. There, may I, all among
Th' inspiring beauties of the tuneful throng,
Drink harmony and fire pure from the fount ;
Till stronger grown, I then aspire to mount
Fierce Pegasus, whom thou Apollo guide
To loftier regions of the sethereal tide ;
That singing still I rise, and rising sing,
CRESCENDO !

13

P A K T

THEME.

NIAGARA ! — who, in thunder tone,

Callest my spirit yielding to thine own ;

As turned to thee, each feeble, yearning sense

Grasps at thy wonders, where, in eloquence

Primeval, wonderful, unchecked, sublime! —

Teaching Eternity, deriding Time,

O'er the vast gulph thy dreadful music peals

Great Nature's triumph, and to man reveals

Omnipotence ; here taught by thee to know

His littleness, and in reverence to bow

Before Infinity !

Bridged, docked, and tolled, for bath and mill re
stricted,

Daguerred, daubed, rhymed, by every lout de
picted ;

14

Where Cockney's pic-nic, where fond misses sigh,
And Papa grumbles as the dollars fly ;
Where rustic brides philander with their spouses,
And drink their ginger-beer from " Vista " houses ;
Where dumpy squaws dispense their tawdry

wares,

And brawling hackmen haggle over fares ;
Where puffing steam, thy glory to abase,
Sails up thy jaws, and whistles in thy face !
I sing not thee.

And why not thee? as here, by thee inspired,

By nature kindled, and by muses fired,

I wondering gaze ; while, leaning on my breast,

In all the glow of instinct love confessed,

My O-re-sc-qua, through her wild, dark eyes

Dimmed with affection's thoughts, that gushing

rise

Fresh from her soul, untaught, into mine own
Pours them, as copious as thy flood is thrown :
And murmurs broken love notes with the breeze
That sings aeolian music through the trees,
Cooling the panting currents of her soul
That, thirsting, leap, beyond her pride's control
To meet mine own ! —

15

Too vast the subject ! — and too great the song !
For feeble Muse, that ambles still, along
Inferior strata of poetic skies,
Eager to soar, but helpless still to rise —
And pipes on tenuous reed, to friendly ear,
Capricious notes, unheard as yet, but near :
Nor sounds sonorous bass, nor can prolong
The measured numbers of continuous song :
Nor asks a poet's name, nor seeks the bay ;
Humble the theme, and humbler still her lay —
The OYSTER !

I SING THE OYSTER ! (Virgin theme !)

King of Molluscules ! Ancient of the stream !

Thy birth was Time's — soon as th' affrighted

world,

A quivering mass, in space immense was hurled —
In darkness cradled — 'mid chaos nursed
Tumultuous ! — Ambiguous, till burst
Thy unctuous beauty on a world where none
Could know thy merit ; there, alone
Thou pined'st forlorn, 'mid mud and flood and

slime,
Ere man came on the stage, far in the time

Cosmogenetical.

16

Nor yet alone — primordial bivalve !
Say, in thy nonage, didst thou not have
Some shell-fish she, by tender tie endeared,
To share thy mud, and pull thy downy beard ? —
Her love to cherish, and to calm her fear
When MEGALOSAURUS fierce came rather near;
Or when GALUMPUS, monarch of the main,
Loud bellowing, shook afar the watery plain !
Or COL-LOS-SOCH-E-LYS, grim giant of the shore,
Lashed out his tail, and gave his morning roar
Thundiferous !

How long, bemired, inglorious, didst thou sleep ?
Thy charms secreted by the envious deep, —
Unknown, untasted, and unsung ! — So lies
The fairest flower 'neath Arab's desert skies ;
So sleeps the gem within its rocky tomb ;
So blinks the planet in its distant gloom,
Till some rare savant brings it to the view —
So, half the world, for ages, \&y perdue,
Till great COLOMBO chanced this way to steer,
And waked our dozing hemisphere,
One morning !

17

To fame unknown, but no less worthy, he,
"Who, of all men, first found and tasted thee.
How great his faith ! his courage how audacious !
To swallow thee, cold, slimy, and vivacious !
What tremor his ! as when thou first didst glide
Down his oesophagus, and didst nimbly hide
Within the inner man ; but when, by repetition,
He gained, at length, the rapturous fruition
Of all thy charms, — what triumph his ! to find
That he, of all, had given to mankind
A new sensation !

Was't Phut, or Peleg, Shem, or great Magog ?

Or lively Nimrod, or perhaps his dog ?

Or did the royal lips of great Nebu-

Chadnozzor first smack over you ;

Ere yet, a ruminant, this stately sinner

Was sent, with cows and goats, to pick his dinner ?

Or broiled, or roasted, did thy unctuous savor

Perfume the marble halls of old Belshazzar ?

Did Pharaoh gulp thee, 'ere the sea gulped him ?

Or Troglodyte, or Scandinavian grim ?

Long, long ago !

18

The Romans knew, and loved thee ! So assure us
Old writers, and those sons of Epicurus,
With mullets, and other ancient fishes,
Would serve thee up, the choicest of their dishes,
While Baiae and Brundusium, as 'tis said,
Rivaled — in claiming the best Oyster bed!
But now, nomadic, through all regions known,
From Polar sea to fierce Equator's zone ;
Pagan and Christian, Turcoman and Jew,
All stew, broil, bake, and swallow you —
You Oyster!!

19

NIGHT AND LOYE.

Far in the West, the Lord of light
Has sunk to rest ; and now the Night

Begins her silent reign :
Each drooping flower hangs its head,
Each warbler seeks his leafy bed,

His home, each tired swain.

The waning sky mysterious fades
Far into gloom ; and deepening shades,

As mourning mantles, fall
O'er land and sea, and nod the trees,
Waving in Evening's dying breeze,

Like plumes funereal.

Now wheels the bat his dusky flight,
While little cricket chirps to Night
His melancholy lay ;

20

And Katy-did to answering mate,
His love and sorrow doth relate,
Until the opening day.

Save these, and where from ancient tree
Yon owl, hooting mournfully,

Doth unto Night complain,
No sound is heard, no life is seen ;
A solemn stillness reigns serene

O'er valley and o'er plain.

Still soft and warm with Summer's glow,
The breeze of Autumn, murmuring low,

Fans Nature as she sleeps ;
While veil of night is round her thrown,
And Cynthia from high Heaven looks down

And lonely vigil keeps.

Her rays thrown out o'er Ocean's breast,
Sport with his strength, and light the crest

Of each dark rolling sea ;
Like molten silver, gleaming bright,
They dance and leap, till lost to sight

Far in th' immensity.

21

Swift sailing clouds, like passing dreams,
Some dark, some tipped with silvery beams.

Move on in long array ;
Oft they obscure yon little star,
With radiance mild that shines afar,

Like Hope 'mid Life's dismay.

Sacred to mystery and to love,

Fair Night ! thou canst each bosom move

In sweetest thought ; to thee,
In grief, each charg-ed heart
Doth love its burthen to impart,

And claim thy sympathy.

The tide is low on SHREWSBURY'S shore,
And past is midnight's silent hour,

And calm that silvery stream :
From Highland's brow the beacons twin
With glowing eye, like Cyclops grim,

Send forth their warning gleam.

Send forth their rays far into gloom,
To light the weary seaman home :
So, o'er life's troubled sea,

22

Bright beams of Truth the darkness cheer,
And guide the erring soul to steer
To heavenly sanctuary.

Wooing the breeze, that softly sung
Along the shore, the rocks among,

The lovely MYA lay ;
The little waves that danced to shore
With glittering showers laved her o'er,

Or cooled her with their spray.

MYA ! — fairest of shell-fish, she,
That creep the shore, or swim the sea,

Or haunt the slimy ooze ; —
Oyster of ancient family,
Of tender years, scarce summers three

Her rounded valves disclose.

Loveliest of Shrewsbury's favored race,
Adorned with every virgin grace,

And fresh as earliest dew !
With softest yellow shines her skin,
While violet blood, her veins within,

Reveals a purple hue.

23

Polished each shell on outward side,
By amorous kissings of the tide

Long loving and caressing ;
While, pure as orient pearl within,
Gleaming, as dying dolphins1 skin,

Its death in light expressing.

Around her, fine as silk- worm's thread,
And soft as downy plumage shed,

To shield its tender young,
By th' Orcadian bird, and green,
As is the polished em'rald's sheen,

Profuse her tresses hung.

Patent she lay upon the shore ;
Beauteous the scene, and fit the hour

For pleasure and for love ;
Yet, sad at heart ; with many a sigh,
Do grief and deep despondency

Her saffron bosom move.

Moistened with tears, each pearly shell,
That formed her solitary cell
More iridescent glows ;

24

While, to the silent, listening night,
Sobbing the while, she doth recite
The story of her woes.

" Oh ! LOLIGO ! — dost thou not hear

" Thy MYA'S once loved voice ? 'Twas here

" Thou bidd'st me to await —
" I've left my home beneath the rock,
" And kin and friends are all forsook

" With thee to share my fate.

"Go, gentle breezes of the night !
" And carry, in your balmy flight,

" To him my tearful sighs ;
" Softly murmuring complain,
" Tell, tell him of his Mya's pain

" In saddest melodies."

" Send him, radiant Queen of night !
" A silvery ray of purest light,

" To guide him to my heart —
" Awake ! ye warblers of the grove,
"In plaintive strains his stay reprove,

" And all my woe impart.

25

" Oh LOLIGO !" she constant cries,

" LOLIGO," echo soft replies,

And mocks her rising woe ;
Panting and faint, she still exclaims,
And echo, still replying, names

But "LoLIGO-%0."

The shore with " LOLIGO" resounds
From echoing rock to rock rebounds

Fond Love's despairing cry ;
While, whispering voices of the night,
From trees and waves and air, unite

In grieving sympathy.

How ever sinks the heart oppressed,
When love, first felt in gentle breast,

Doubts of another's love !
In keen debate of hope and fears,
In smiles self-mocking, or in tears,

Its wild, quick throbbings move.

And swift, through Memory's storied cell,
Where every word, and look, as well, -
Have long deep nurtured lain —

26

With lightning flash, Suspicion flies,
Illumines each, and amplifies

The heart's unceasing pain.

Sadly, the opening bud reveals
Its promise blighted, when it feels

Rude Winter's chilling power :
So Love, touched.by Suspicion, pines,
And drooping, to the earth inclines,

And fades as does the flower.

But see ! — emerging from the tide,
Panting with haste to reach her side,

Crawls he she loves so well :
Soon to his Mya's side he came,
And, glowing with an equal flame,

Was clasped within her shell.

Reproaching gently for her fears,
Her, smiling softly 'mid her tears,

He soothes with kind caress ;
" But why so long?" she plaintive cried,
" Why leave alone thy promised bride
" In this deserted place ?"

27

Responsive he — " Pearl of my soul !
" Long since I left my sea-weed hole

" Hard by the Western shore.
" Scarcely had Phoebus hid his head,
" Nor yet her curtain Night had spread

" The face of nature o'er ;

" Just as I rose above the tide,
" PHOLAS, my rival, I espied,

" And closed in fiercest fight —
" Long was the struggle, — thrice renewed ;
" At length the monster fell subdued,

" And yielded to my might."

" And now, I hold thee to my heart
" Thou dearest one ! no more to part ;

" Ah ! love me thus for ever !
" Thou silvery goddess ! hear our prayer,
" Long grant us, free from ill and care,

" To live and love together."

Bright shone fair Dian, as they told
The mysteries of their loves, and rolled,
In music murmuring

28

To the shore, the whispering waves ;
And peeped and smiled from out their caves,
The clams, in joy concurring.

And heart did there, attuned to heart
In rapturous unison, impart

Love's thrilling melody ;
Half wished, half spoke, mysterious but di
vined

Before expressed, each sense to thought refined
By love's sweet Alchemy.

Each look revealed, each trembling sigh,
Unbidden the soft mystery

Beyond the will's control :
Words were too feeble to convey
Each rapturous thought's electric play

That rushed from soul to soul.

Hope to their gaze with brightest smile
Illumes the future ; — -joy the while

The present feeds with bliss
Newborn ; while, to themselves appear
Their loves all world and heaven,— and each fear

Is scattered by a kiss.

29

Pleasures of youth and love ! bright dreams
Of life's bright hours ! though vain, yet gleams,

Refulgent, through long years of care,
Your sunny memory ;
Nor, would I from my heart now dry

Those founts long since found gushing
there.

There, all unchecked, did Fancy stray,
Flinging her hues, in varied play,

O'er changing wish and thought ;
And Conscience smiled, and Memory young
No tears had known, or thorns among

Life's joyous flowers had brought.

Nor \veeds of melancholy care,
Or sad regret, were growing where

Those joyous flowers were blooming ;
Nor thoughts of evil augury,
As clouds, obscured Hope's azure sky,

The mind as now entombing.

Danced through the heart the warbled notes
Of Pleasure's song, from Siren throats,
As down the silvery tide,

30

Wafted by gay Illusion's breath,
Heedless of sunken rock beneath,
Life's bark did gently glide.

Floating from Spring's elysian bowers,
In joyous band, the sister hours,

Each from the other veiled ;
Around me danced, in gayest measure,
Bestowing each some newer pleasure,

As dreamingly I sailed.

Now, scattered wide along the way,
Life's winding stream as I survey,

There moves a shadowy host,
Recalling as by magic power
But sad regrets of happier hour,

Of love or friendship lost.

From Memory's tumultuous cell,
Aroused, as when some funeral knell

Starts corpses from the deep,
Each mocking image springs to view,
Each shade a shadow to pursue —

Ah ! Memory ! bid them sleep.

31

Emotions past, as from a trance,
Again awake and flitting, glance

Along the ice-bound heart ;
Ye Shadows of the Past ! — in vain
Ye seek to warm to life again

Or joy anew impart.

Buried the hopes that once ye gave
Deep in the Past, Time's yawning grave,

No longer ye decoy ;
Wilted and gone the flowers, too,
In lingering tribute, long that grew

Above each buried joy.

One single plant of love, alone
Survives, in solitary bloom,

Ah ! may it ever last !
Kitty ! thy love is ever found,
Creeping, like tender vine, around

The column of the Past.

(Though 'tis the fashion, set by Byron,
Past hopes and pleasures thus to sigh on,

And draw them from their cloisters,

32

Its rather maudlin : so, to gloom
Keturn ye shades, no more to roam,
And revenons to our OYSTERS.)

Coyly resisting, her he led

To where, by hanging rock o'erspread,

There was a little cell ;
An ancient Scallop's sanctuary,
Where, free from world and vanity,

He long had loved to dwell.

Crooked was his shell, and gray his beard
With hoary age, and far revered

For lore and sanctity ;
Cunning he was, and well did know
The moving tides, [and when a blow

Foretold the changing sky.

About his cell, arranged with care,
Were shells of snails, and sea-weeds rare*

And mosses old and dry :
A venerable sponge, his bed,
And skeleton of eel, at head,

Warned of mortality.

33

There passed, reflective he, the days,
Apart from noisy herd, and maze

Of worldly cares and strife ;
Sweet Solitude, with love sincere,
There did he woo, his mistress dear

And pleasure of his life.

Wide to his curious gaze displayed,
The works of nature there he read,

And pondered as he gazed :
Full wisely did he cogitate,
And secrets rare and thoughts of weight

Had treasured in his pate.

Happy the wight ! who, thus, away
From vain delights and world's display,

His soul may purify ;
Simple in taste, in each desire —
Fair Nature, musing, to admire,

In lonely sanctity.

This ancient one, his pate without
His hermit cell, was peering out

Deep pondering, into night ;
2*

34

When, came the lover's to implore,
That he would them, for evermore,
In wedlock sweet, unite.

Though long a foe to love's alarms,
Their prayer the ancient hermit warms,

Who yields, at length, consent.
Their pain he doth commisserate,
And leads the way with air sedate

Within his tenement.

Illumed by phosphorescent shell
And fire-fly lamp, the little cell

Glows with unusual light.
By many a spell and holy rite,
The loving pair, there doth unite

This holy anchorite.

By altar of rosy coral placed,
Tenderly with shells inlaced,

The twain became but one :
No witnesses, save crickets three,
Who, passing, stop, and sing with glee

Their epithalamium.

35

And now, by Hymen's fetters tied,
LOLIGO bears his juicy bride

Beneath the sparkling flood ;
There, wrapped in bliss, the happy pair
The honey-moon together share,

In softest JERSEY mud !

SONGS SUNG- ON THE ABOVE OCCASION.

* SONG NO. 1.

(AFTER AN APPROVED MODERN STYLE.)
Far shimmering down the lone valley,
Against the gaunt oaks gnarled and hoary,
With shadows so lengthy, so dreary,
So lengthy, so dreary the shadows,
Yes, darkling and dreary the shadows ;
Throws glory the Sun, Corruscator,
His life-ebbing rays thro' the gloaming j
See ! now how effete the sky-cleaver,

* Which was delivered, basking in the moonlight, on the shore,
by a young periwinkle, of a sentimental turn of mind.

Falling into the sea, the brined water ?
Yes, into th' unfathomed Pelagic,
Falls into the sea, the entomber,
The cold, cheerless home of the fishes-,
Of the slippery Eel, the Con-vul-vus
Slipping here, slipping there, the Co?i-vul-vu$
Now here, and now there, the Con-vul-vus9
Now there, the lithe, clammy Con-vul-vus :
And with him the Flounder, so slimy,
The Flounder, so slimy, so scaly,
In the desolate home of the fishes,
In the shivering home of the fishes,
The dank, dreary home of the fishes,

Of the fishes —

•

Yes, the fishes,
•The fishes !-—

See ! there, thro' the clouds the young Luna,
Yes, the Argentine beams of young Luna,
Young Luna with beams all of silver,
Thro' the gooseberry bushes, young Luna,
Yes, the gooseberries — Ah ! the gooseberries!
While there, on the toad-stool — Smell-fungus —
The bull-frog — the Co-ax-ker — chunJc-a
Yes, with green, glistening eye-balls, the Bull-frog,

And white, rounded belly, the Bull-frog,

See his little white belly, the Bull-frog !

Now he watches the Skunk, As-sa-fe-tah,

The snow-white, the stealthy exhaler,

Lest he creep up too near to his deary,

To his love, to his deary paludal,

To his green-streaked and tender limbed deary,

In the little, mossed, moonlit lagoon —

Come then, the Horned Owl with hootings,

And drive Sir Mephitus away —

Away then ! Avaunt from my charmer !

From my love then, away !

To-whoop and away I

And away!

SONG NO. 2.

(AFTER AN APPROVED MODEL.)
* SICK, sick, sick ! Oh ! moan of the long, long waves,
Dirging desolate wails for a scarified heart,
Beating, beating dull tambours of woe
Along the drear wastes, where her graceless art,
Where the wheedling gloss and ostensible flow

*This Spasmody was sung by the disappointed Photos, on seeing
the object of his hopes retire with a rival.

38

Of enameled affection has cheated the glow

Of single-souled manhood, and rapined for sport,

For whimsical purpose, and babbling delight —

Ha ! — have we clove-footed Satanitifs night?

Are valleys of Paradise deep-lava'd Hell ! —

Has the great, round Earth come down nearer

Its knell ?— -

That lily-cheeked minxes, sly, silver-tongued spell
And the soul-raking practice of eyes that invite
Can palsy life's pulse ! — -Is it well ! Is it well !
Come ! tell me, great Heaven — Tst well?
Then dance, Devils, dance, in your impish delight,
Come, dance on this quivering, blood-tenisoned

heart —

Ha! ha! for the driveller ! Ha! ha ! for the white-
Bosomed murdress, the waxed hypocrite,
The waxen, meek-visaged and masked-hearted lie !
The sleepy-eyed Circe! Come now take me to die,
Down the Uack-throated cavern O/*HELL !

SICK, sick, sick !— Oh! fetch me some drug for the

soul —
How rank smells the rose on the foul brow of

Night,
Where, once, all was muscadine —

39

How frowzy and fetid the South wind blows
On the feverish throbbings, where passion glows,
Like a gibbering ape, in his mocking spite,
O'er the wreck of heart-hopings — and as an ill-
omened bat,

Jangling his shriek through the poisoned air,
Through the church-yard heart now chuckles de
spair,
Despair for a calcined soul — Oh ! my darling, love,

my pride !

My own heart's heart ! not thus ! — not thus !
Was it good ? was it right ? — Oh ! curse me wide
The varnished-tongued Janus, the perjurous cheat
Spoiler of all my dreamed joys — Will she come ?

my sweet !

What think you, Moon, will she come ?
I am here on the shore, all alone, all alone,
I have crept from the midnight depths of despair,
Come ! restore me with kisses of light !
With kisses, with kisses of light.
With kisses, with kisses of light
BACK, back, back — all ye furies that tug at my

heart
She will save me with kisses of light !

40

REFLECTIONS ON THE ABOVE OCCASION.

There's beauty in the Ocean tide,

As roll, in surges, to the shore,

Its crested billows ; and wide

And far, majestic, with resounding roar,

The mighty waters move —

Or when, perchance, they sleep,

Some eve ; and quiet moonbeams

Stealing from spangled heavens, creep

And smile upon dark Ocean's breast,

Or dance, in ripples, o'er his hushed strength.

There's beauty in the tone of Music, when
It lulls, with saddened sympathy, the heart
That anguish breaks ; — so soothes
The strain harmonious, that appears,
Even through dim sorrow's tears,
Hope ! with her sunny smiles ! —
Or when, with happier chord, it quickens
The deep pulse of love, and the charged heart

41

Still feels the loved one's presence,

Though afar ; and, lulled in reverie,

Communes as with a present bliss.

With beauty glows fond Nature's face

When flushed with dying radiance that the Lord

Of her life sends down, as far in West

He sinks, and clouds with varied hue and crest

Roll in involv-ed splendor ;

As smiles with brightness yet the vale,

And placid lake and stream reflect

The roseate Aurora ; and the snowy cap

Of mountain monarch, peering from afar,

Sends back to clouds their glory.

There's beauty in the morning's opening smile
Dissolving the dim mystery, of night,
Awakening earth and sky to life and light,
While all her warbling heralds, in delight,
Sprinkle the air with music.
There's beauty in the pensiveness of eve,
When shadows like mournful memories steal
O'er the repose of nature ; and subdue the soul
To reverie, — while all the glittering ministers of

Night
Contrast with gloom their splendors.

42

But to the mind no beauty nature brings,

As when, in mingled fervency of loves

Unbought, spontaneous, chaste, pulsate

Two guileless hearts in soft communion ;

And mind and feature to each other lend beauty

expressive.

Dependent, trusting with a firm esteem
That makes their faith inviolate,
Each owns the cherished bondage, as Love,
From heart expanding, clarifies each soul
From earthly dross for higher holiness.

MOKNING.

While these in love's divine emotions lost
The Oysterman wide ranges round the coast —
Scarce now has bright Aurora tipped with light
The glistening hills, and chased departing night ;
Ere yet, aloft, her golden chariot flies,
Eesplendent beaming o'er the Eastern skies ;
Sweeping the way of clouds, like duteous daughter,
For Father Sol who comes up lumbering after-
Scarce has the earliest rooster cleared his throat,
And hailed the morning with vivacious note,
Where, drowsy still, upon some neighboring rail,
He opes his wings and shakes his dewy tail —
Scarce has the lark been able to discern,
For morning meal, the matutinal worm,
Ere yet abroad, her early flight she tries
And soars rejoicing to the upper skies ;
To meet the morn, with gushing melodies,
And sport with youngest beams from Phoebus' eyes.
While moping watch still keeps the vigil owl
And blinking, winking, sits within his hole,

44

Wailing the dawn, in muttered, dying howl —
Like morbid plaint from penitential soul ;
When, OSTRECAPTOR seeks the neighboring shore
Launches his bark, and grasps the ready oar —
Swiftly compels th' obedient skiff to glide,
In noiseless current, through the yielding tide ;
Low bending, dexterous, pulls the pliant blade,
Now to advance and now to retrograde ;
In measured time, with quick repeated strokes,
The circling eddies of the stream provokes ;
Now here, now there, directs the changing prow,
Now quicker moves, now cautiously more slow :
Avoids the shallows, through entangling reeds,
With vigorous arm the nimble vessel speeds —
Till gained, at length, th' auspicious place, he

throws

The trusty anchor from th' dancing bows —
Now, to St. Peter, of fishermen protector,
Prays for good luck, and quaffs his first kumecter —
As, down his throat, the welcome moisture flows,
Quick leaps the blood, and with new vigor glows ;
A genial warmth renews the sluggish veins,
And all the frame a freshen'd life attains.
Thus fortified, he grasps by either limb,
The oyster rake, and sinks it in the stream ;

45

Explores the river bed, with practiced skill,
Tries every hole, and rakes o'er every hill —
Then drinks again, then pulls, a little space ;
Now rakes the mud, then tries another place ;
Now blames his luck, as do all fishermen,
Then paddles, drinks, rakes, pulls, and swears again.
At length, beneath, the hardened shell reveals
The destined prey, which 'gainst the rake he feels ;
Then, with a jerk, constricts the iron teeth,
And draws the ravished shell-fish from beneath.

So have I seen, on fair Italia's- shore,
Basking in sun by old Cathedral door,
Some anxious matron, steadfast, bending o'er
Her nature's jewels, and with care explore
The stock capillary on each tangled pate,
In search of what doth nimbly animate
Its mazes ; that she may depopulate
Of creeping tenants — groping, now, she spies
Some rash invader — marks him for her prize —
With dexterous digits, nips th' unwary one,
And drags, in triumph, from his hirsute home.

46

NIGHT IN TOWN.

Now blinking SOL puts on his night-cap

And snugly, in the clouds, doth tight wrap

His wearied corpus, as, with mournful yawn,

He grieves, at thought of getting up at dawn —

When, spent with toil, the drowsy monarch snores,

Old mother Night the sable curtain draws,

Illumes the winking tapers of the sky,

And bids her maiden, pensive Cynthia, nigh,

To wait till morn, and silent vigil keep,

Sola, upon her snoring lover's sleep.

Cynthia, who long has watched, and watching

loved,

Though, e'en herself her rising love reproved —
Who, for her god, in amorous longing, sighs,
And mourns, when fades his glory from the skies ;
But, when refulgent, shuns his warm embrace,
Nor dares the awful splendors of his face.
So gentle hearts in secrecy maintain
The restless tumult of love's pleasing pain,

47

Content in solitude its cares to feel,
Know naught but love, yet all their love conceal.
E'en, to themselves, in timorous wonder, coy
They feel, but own not th'jnstinctive joy.
Though giving all, they claim no fond return,
But pine in silence, and unheeded burn.
Drinking from rended wounds with which it

bleeds ;

Still, on itself, the heart insatiate feeds,
Till the poor spirit sinks at length to rest —
Its life but love, its love by love unblest.

Now lies in darkness muffled, all the town,
Save where some gas-lamp penetrates the gloom,
Or glancing lights from dwelling, or from inn,
Reveal hilarity and life within ;
Or mammoth lantern, with its painted glare,
Invites the rover to potation there ;
Or lighted coach along the pavement flies,
Like some big bug, with phosphorescent eyes ;
Or down an area, opened bull's-eye's rays
Of drowsy watchman, sends a sudden blaze ;
Now Vice creeps out, and crawls her slimy rounds,
And brawling Mirth his noisy tocsin sounds.

48

Now skulking miscreants leave their murky lairs,
And Crime, abroad, its stealthy purpose dares —
While on the roofs, Grimalkin amorous roves,
And cooks, o'er railings, tell their greasy loves.

Waves Morpheus over some his dewy wand,

And wafts, from daily care, far into land

Of dreams fantastic, where each simmering brain

Selects its visions, and lives o'er again

In past delights ; or wild imagination

Builds new ideas, in queer confederation —

Less favored some, the hideous Night-hag strides,

And till the morn, on breast or belly rides,

Pummels the brain, or sucks the yielding breath,

Holding her struggling victim fast beneath.

Others unite, for pleasure, or for gain,

For cares religious, or for joys profane;

Each varied taste, to follow its desires,

As reason or folly, whim or wine inspires.

Some worship at Euterpe's favored shrine,
Where bassos bellow, and where tenors whine ;
And Prima Donna, through three acts insane,
At length, sings back her brains again ;

49

While simpering Miss, at home, so orthodox,
Here, ogles boldly from her opera box ;
To come, from night to night, she sighs,
And waxes maudlin o'er the tenor's eyes ;
While Pater, lost in dreams of "Speculation,"
Damns (to himself) the whole Italian nation.
Although constrained, by Fashion's tyrant laws,
To take a box, and join in the applause.
Prim, at his side, sits stately dowager,
Listening to love from pauper foreigner,
Who, ceaseless chattering, seeks to win her
To give him — (moderate man!) — a card to dinner!
Here, buck pretentious 'mid the glitter glares,
In fashion's gayest garb, and apish airs ;
Poses himself, as does the Belvidcre,
And shoots his witching arrows far and near,
That harmless fall among the older game,
Though little youngling feels the feathered flame ;
With many an ogle then he doth afflict her,
As on his rabbit glares the boa-constrictor,
Around her prances, prinks, and swaggers,
While she goes home to dream of — "love and
daggers."

50

Vain of the robes by wanton Wealth supplied,
Here pampered FASHION, in ignoble pride,
False in her face, as treacherous at heart,
With Nature warring, hugs delusive Art,
No genial glow her narrow bosom warms,
No modest virtues lend their softening charms,
No kindly feeling for another's good
Dims the cold eye, or stirs the sluggish blood.
In selfishness she sits enwrapped — alone —
Careless of joy or sorrow not her own.
Her fawning minions on the Goddess wait,
In trifles judges; and minutely great —
To them no treasures Contemplation brings,
They cull no fruit that from Experience springs,
From Reason's fount no sage conclusions draw,
No lofty purpose know, — save self no law.
Deaf to the rustling wings of fleeting time,
Eager they turn where jingles Folly's chime ;
And Wisdom mocked, and disregarded Fame
Fulfill an insect's mission 'round a flame.
Constant in change, they trifle to the end,
Live but to please — and die without a friend.
Their life hypocrisy — their death a play !
Where falsehood flatters, a.nd where mummers
pray—

51

There, cold Philosophy bestows a sneer,
Reason, a laugh ! Pity, alone, — a tear !

O'er mimic sorrows some their tears bestow,
The Stranger's troubles, or Paulina's woe :
Where grief bombastic sets the galleries winking,
With eyes, ears, mouth, each newest horror drink
ing ;

And Melodrame, with lungs like a tornado,
Dies in hyperbole, and fierce bravado :
While those who, elsewhere, ne'er a tear confess,
Or give a sous to aid a real distress,
Here pay to blubber o'er a play-wright's cant,
And moan, when burly Forrests rant :
To ev'ry virtuous sympathy give vent,
Applaud the good and laud the innocent,
For half an hour — but, one would sure amaze
To ask them, once to practice what they praise.
Thus to be good, is, sure, the easiest way,
And virtuous be, by proxy — in a play ;
To Heaven, give some common place abstractions,
But to the Devil, all our life's transactions ;
Nod at a virtue, when it passes by,
If seen, perhaps, in Fashion's company,
But should the rascal, elsewhere, be obtrusive,

62

Then kick him out, with epithets abusive ;
Nor let such croaking meddlers interfere
With one's brief current of enjoyment here.

In tippling, some the fleeting moments pass,

Diluting sorrow in the jovial glass :

O'er reeking fumes, they love to wax loquacious,

And then — sick, amorous, or pugnacious.

As round the bowl, in drunken fit, they gather,

Great Bacchus knocks their muddled pates together,

Of brain bereft ; than any timber thicker,

So thick, that nothing can get in — but liquor !

Loud grows the revel, loud the ribald song,

And strongest heads their maudlin wit prolong

Far into morn ; — while, here and there, in rags,

Outside, pale-faced Starvation, shivering, begs.

To lectures many, where, for a "quarter" —
Some pscudo-savan pours out wit — like water ;
Peers o'er his specs, like goosey o'er a fence,
And beats the desk, in grandest eloquence :
With metaphysics heats some simple theme,
Then gets bewildered in his self-raised steam ;
Confounded by his own wild exhalations,
Gets wilder still in deeper explorations —

53

On waxen wings then tries a lofty pitch,

But tumbles, headlong, in a common ditch ;

There floundering, gropes about in vain,

Some very simple niyst'ry to explain,

Drags common sense down with him to his puddle,

And her, as well as self, doth strangely muddle.

He to be great, all, surely, must agree,

He's wrote a book ! and taken a degree ! —

Up gape the audience at the wondrous man,

And long to understand him — if they can —

And if they can't — bemoan their want of sense,

While lauding still his vast intelligence.

So Folly reigns, when blockheads are the Judges ;

And Wisdom seems — what nothing else but fudge is.

Thus Dullness, under vizor of Minerva,

Will ever find some wiseacres to serve her.

Others, with morbid fantasies imbued,
Delight to potter o'er congenial wood —
Of previous stores their feeble cranium's dry,
They rap o'er tables, for a fresh supply —
Too lofty, mundane things to understand,
They grope for knowledge in a spirit-land —
There, all at home where nothing can be clear,
Nonsense exalt, obscurity revere.

54

Pale Irreligion aids, with practiced wiles,
While Vice disguised, o'er future victims smiles.
Some needy hag as Pythoness is found
To lie, knock, swoon, or kick the table round.
For her, great Milton leaves his shining peers,
To talk with dunces of harmonious spheres —
For her, staid Bacon skips around the room,
Upsets the chairs, or rides upon a broom ;
Happing some mystic nonsense, by the hour,
For gaping crowds, as gospel, to devour —
While Saints and Devils, an obliging band,
Preach, pray, or cut their capers at command —
Here, scheming Fraud supplies what Folly lacks ;
Who start as Fanatics, soon end as — Quacks !

Elsewhere, Miss Grim her glowing vengeance

wreaks

On Man th' usurper, and her protest squeaks
'G-ainst Woman's wrongs! a revolution preaches —
And shakes, in air, her flag — a pair of breeches !
Strong-minded creatures, grim and gaunt as spec
tres,

All sit around chair-lady and projectors :
No smile, no grace, no love adorns their course ;
All hard, all square, all stern, all strong, all "horse!"

55

Long-haired and eared apostles of the cause
Support the fair, and bray out their applause.
In vision, now, she feels herself a Sen'tor,
On rostrum placed, and blows like any Stentor.
Still, still at Man her mimic thunder hurls,
Shakes out bad logic and — her corkscrew curls.
Pray, good Miss Grim, what is the matter ?
Why all this gall, why all this ceaseless clatter?
Why rail at Man, why, so irate palaver ?
The reason's plain — she gets no man to have her.
O Cytherea ! — come thou to our aid,
And rid us of this ancient, unsexed maid ;
Nor let her, longer, for a fitting mate,
Be clamoring, in such abnormal state —
If for her Jack, each Jill may justly call,
Send now her Jack and turn to milk her gall —
And, Goddess ! when her luckless Jackie's found,
Grant ! grant ! that he may keep her — gagged and
bound \

Affairs of State, here, draw a motley crew
Of sharper, ruffian, rogue of every hue ;
Pickpockets sly, and pauper politicians,
Ready, in any way, to better their conditions.
The hired bully here seeks game to bruise on,

56

The turncoat there — who calls his changes fusion,
Follows, like hound, the party then in vogue,
And calls his former comrade cheat and rogue ;
Takes his fat place, and fattens on his fall,
Eating his fellows like a cannibal.
There, reeling "Pats," a new made voting host,
Bestow their favors on who pays them most.
Swear to support the laws and constitution,
From which their ignorance gives absolution.
In motley garb they follow those that feed 'em,
And sell their votes before they've learnt to read

'em.

Here Candidates' smirks, and drinks, and bribes,.
And to all principles at once subscribes,
Denounces those in power as arrant thieves,
Calls for Reform, and for his country grieves :
While he, the greatest rascal of the day,
Wants but the chance to be still worse than they.
So want of power, oft makes those wondrous good
Who'd reign like very Neros, if they could ;
Who virtues claim, when placed in humble sta
tions,
But shake them off, when great, like poor relations.

There roars and howls Tiberius Gracchus Brown,
Who's on his legs to knock " Creation " down ;

57

Too groveling he to rise to others' level ;

So goes for sending all things — to the devil ! —

Of people's rights the drunken patriot bawls,

" To arms, to arms\" — the down-trod masses calls ;

Croaks himself hoarse, and dry as any frog,

Then — sells his country — for a glass of grog ! —

So, take the loftiest patriot of the .stump,

Who blows the biggest and the loudest trump,

Of patriotism prates ad nauseam,

And seeks, with periods and big words to palm

Himself on masses, as Regenerator,

Of Right and Virtue the great Vindicator,

Who claims all " place," all faction to despise,

So pure — would seem fit saint to canonize :

When out of wind, and somewhat out at pocket,

Plump — from his skies he falls, like finished rocket,

No longer seeks, by humbug, to delude us,

But sells himself — as cheap as any Judas !

Reserved thy triumphs for a ripened age,
Time's fav'rite puppet on a changing stage,
Where all are duped, and all alike applaud
Thy genius, HUMBUG ! — and thy tricks reward.
Thy dam Hypocrisy, by Falsehood sired,
By Folly nurtured, and by Fraud inspired —

58

In nature constant, changing still in name

In purpose various, in deceit the same,

All men thy victims, yet thy firm allies

Thy deeds disclaim, and yet thy friendship prize.

Enduring Goddess of a fickle age !

The adult World's ignoble heritage !

More strong than Truth, than Virtue more pursued,

Thy pride to cheat, thy mission to delude —

Yet, as by sinner, so by saint implored,

By sage enlisted, and by fool adored —

Mankind thy slaves, yet all the world thy shrine,

Thy works infernal, but thy rites divine. !

Thy shield of brass hides Truth's indignant face,

And flashes Error on a blear-eyed race,

Thy blatant voice drowns Merit's feeble cry

Upholding falsehood to the blushing sky,

With shameless bluster and with bold acclaim

Announcing wide its own asserted fame.

Lo ! at thy feet where Worth and Honor lie

Faith, Virtue, Love, and gentle Purity ;

Each honest purpose, every generous aim,

Disheartened, sinks before thy potent name.

E'en Nature, taught by thee to play a part,

Yields herself muzzled to thy minion, Art ;

And like some beast, by Mountebank displayed

59

Performs abnormal tricks, in masquerade.

Apostate Justice, doubly blind for thee,

Yields ready judgment to thy perjury.

By thee, the guiltless bleed, the culprit lives,

And dextrous knavery, exulting, thrives :

By thee, aspiring Dullness upward flies,

And brazen Vice grasps struggling Virtue's prize.

Say, must we ever feel thy perjured sway,
Nor hail the glories of a nobler day ?
Must Man, perfected, lose all manhood's pride,
Live but to learn, yet learn but to misguide?
Is Wisdom's end but Falsehood's vile success'?
Must Life's great lesson be but faithlessness ?
Must ever Truth to juggling Fiction bow?
And modest worth to meretricious show ?
\Yhen shall Man's nature rise, in Nature's might,
And spar above this thick obstructing night ;
Shake off th.e shackles that constrict the heart,
And dare, at length, to play true Manhood's part ?
Above this atmosphere of social lies,
Error's thick mists, 'and clouds of fallacies,
Fly to a height, where Truth refulgent beams,
Her rays unclouded by these noxious streams ;
There, champion of her banner wide unfurled,
Lead a new life in a regenerate World ?

60

But, let us leave these scenes of brawling life,
With envy, hate, and fierce contention rife ;
Where scum of bubbling Civilization
Thickens, in foul coagulation :
Whence Honor shrinks, whence manly Virtues flyy
The schools of Vice and low Hypocrisy —
Go we, my Muse, to far more peaceful scenes,
Which rather with thy milder taste convenes,
In realms domestic, be it ours to dwell,
Qf humbler things, essay we now to telL

P A K T III.

CLOCINDA.

Far in the nether realms terrene,

Clocinda reigns, the Goddess and the Queen.

To her 'tis given each mystic change to know,

That bodies alimental undergo —

The frame to nurture, to each taste to cater,

Nature's most kind invigorator !

The spit her sceptre, parsely forms her crown,

Kitchen her realm, and wooden stool her throne —

With these installed, all powerful her sway,

When she commands, all tremble and obey.

Obedient Vulcan owns her sovereign power,

And Croton summoned sends the prosperous shower.

Portly her frame, and rubicund her face,

Calm in repose, but awful in grimace :

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Though kind her heart, and soft as freshest dough,
Determination sits upon her brow.
From her resolve appeals no captious she,
Firm is her will, and final her decree.
What dread dismay her gathering brows inspire,
Whene'er, displeased, she rages round the fire !
Her voice like pounding pestles shakes the air
And fills with terror all that linger there.
Swift, for his hole, each mouse affrighted runs,
E'en crawling roach the raging priestess shuns ;
Poor Pompey slinks far in the deepest shade,
And every cat through window, flies dismayed !
John whistles low, yet wisely holds his tongue,
While trembling Betty wonders what goes wrong.
But when, again, upon her rotund cheeks,
A glowing smile, a mind contented speaks,
All else doth smile, all else a pleasure knows,
With cheerful radiance all the kitchen glows — ,
With greater lustre shines each burnished tin,
And simmering pots their liveliest airs begin ^

As when fierce Boreas, rujcs, the raging skies,
Summons his, winds, and bids the tempest rise ;
Marshals, from far, the clouds in grim array,
And spreads their gathering volumes for the fray;

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Low, muttered roars a mask-ed fury tell,
As restless with wrathful power, they swell,
*Till, lowering far, they hang the Heavens in

gloom,

And bind the earth within a vapory tomb —
The howling winds a fearful music make,
Preluding fiercely, to the tempest's rack :
While fleecy clouds, as heralds, scour the air,
And bid the laggarts to the coming war.
Hark ! from the North, that peal, like signal gun
Declares th' aerial war begun —
One sheet of flame now pales. the lurid sky,
Then bursts, in awful roar, great Heaven's artillery.
Huge clouds, like warring vessels, sail the skies,
Hurling their bolts, as each to each replies —
Their ceaseless thunders beat the throbbing air,
Each peal responsive to the lightning's glare,
Which ever through the gloom, like forked tongue
Of fiery serpent, darts the heavens among.
Contending whirlwinds from all quarters rise,
And floods now burst from forth the teeming skies,
Their furious waters all the earth invade —
All trembling Nature prostrate sinks, dismayed —
Awe-stricken man now owns his feeble powers,
And Him that rules the raging storm adores.

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But see ! emerging from the weeping sky,

As new-born Venus, rising from the sea,

The lovely daughter of the storm appear,

Of peace and hope the harbinger, —

As bright her glowing beauties rise,

Hushed is the fury of the skies.

Fierce Boreas, softened, stills his wrath,

While gentle Zephyrs crowd her path.

The torrents cease, the vapors fly,

All heaven owns her mild supremacy.

Gladly the earth receives the gentle maid —

And joyous Nature all her charms displayed,

Recovering soon, from previous fears,

Smiles still more sweetly through her glist'ning

tears.

E'en so, Clocinda's rising smile foretels
A grateful calm, and every fear dispels.

Lo ! where, majestic, by the crackling flame,

She seems a priestess, o'er some mystic scheme

Divinely rapt, while, pierced by spit,

Pinioned and plucked before th' embrowning heat

The victim turns ; revolving slow,

Him she annoints with juices from below,

While molten fat ascends in savory clouds,

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A grateful incense to the household gods.

Her plastic genius now she bends anew

To make, what mortals call, the " OYSTER STEW " —

True talent not alone doth lie

In great endeavor, and capacity

To do the loftiest deeds ; but also to bestow

A higher place on humbler things, and throw

O'er that, which hitherto obscure hath been,

The light of genius, and the voice of fame.

Clocinda's genius elevates the dish,

And makes it all that man or gods might wish.

First, in the cauldron cleansed with anxious care

The savory celery she doth prepare.

Then, over this inverts the crystal stream,

And gives the cauldron to the genial flame.

Then adds the exuberant udder's freshest yield

Ta'en from the kine, that roam, at large, the field,

In sunny Orange, nor forgets the grease

Yellow and sweet, that Goshen, land of peace

And pasture, justly boasts, — then adds, but sparsely,

To give a vernal tase, the well-minced parsley —

Her snow-white tribute, next, doth Ceres give,

Which, first, Clocinda cares to pass through sieve ;

Then throws it in, commixed by slow degrees,

Or more or less, each varied taste to please —

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Her vigorous arm now nimbly stirs the mess,
Which constant skill requires and wariness,
Lest lambent flames too fiercely lick the pot
And burn by rendering prematurely hot.

DESTINY.

Ruthless destroyer of each peaceful race !
Proud man ! when shall thy tyrant power cease
To meet thy will, to please thy changing taste
All else must die, all nature sink oppressed ;
Each tie parental, each congenial yoke
Of nature's humbler tribes, by thee is broke,
Each lowly joy, each instinct's soft desires
Each little life envied by thee expires.
As wild laments his agony reveal,
In vain contending 'gainst the ruthless steel,
For thee, torn from his loving mother's side,
The tender calf pours forth the purple tide ;
For thee, the lambkin yields its budding life,
And hog, complaining, sinks beneath the knife,
Where, vainly struggling in a fierce despair,
With hideous yells he fills the astonished air ;
Each fond companion hears th' unusual cries,
And to his grief, with answering grief, replies j

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Each rock repeats the unharmonious woe,
Through echoing woods the chorused squealings

grow,

Startle the wond'ring birds, in farthest glades,
And drive fair Dryads into deeper shades.
For thee, the finny people meet their doom,
By cruel barb dragged from their watery home-
Ensnared by thee, they seize the fancied prey,
Then, gasping, wondering, pant their life away.
For thee, each cackling mother mourns her young,
When Biddy seeks a victim them among.
For thee, each gobbler mourns his slaughtered

mate,

And patient ox, resistless, meets his fate.
Lo ! where, in massive strength revealed,
Mild eyed, the gentle giant of the field !
Laborious servant of the exacting soil,
Kind in his strength, and unreserved in toil,
Calmly contemplative, complacent chews
Th* redoubled herb, and simple thought pursues ;
Musing on clovered meads, or sparkling rills
That danced through verdure down his native hills.
When all unchecked he ruled his little dames
Browsed o'er the plains and frolicked in the streams.
When doomed for thee, full on his hairy brow

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The brawny butcher aims the barb'rous blow.
Full on the front the ponderous weight descends,
Through hair, skull, brains, resistless passage

rends —

As struck by fiery missive from the skies,
Falls the crushed brute, and bleeding, quivering

lies —

In one long sigh expels his struggling breath —
Then sinks supine his giant frame in death.
For thee, the pheasant, as the aerial blue
He cleaves rejoicing, when at length in view
Of piping brood, his daily, sweetest care,
Hastening with them his gathered toils to share ;
Struck to the heart, receives the leaden death,
And stiffening lies upon the ensanguined heath.

Thy fiery mandate bathes the earth in blood,
Thy life is death — all Nature's tears thy food —
Insatiate tyrant ! will not these suffice,
Will these not fill the bloody sacrifice ?
Must shell-fish too, that mild, innocuous race,
More victims yield to feed thy wild caprice ?
More victims yield to that absorbing power,
That craves all things organic to devour ?
Alas ! for thee, must mild moluscules bleed,
Must they too fall thy pampered maw to feed ?

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Ready the burning broth, the fated hour has come !
Trembling, appalled, each dreads the coming doom.
In memory, each the pleasing scene surveys
Where passed the peaceful hours of happier days,
The silvery stream, the far extending shore
With weed and clam-shells all besprinkled o'er.
The verdant slime, the mossy rocks overhead,
The yielding mud that formed their native bed ;
Scenes of their early childhood's simple bliss,
Or mutual love's maturer happiness.
Where peace, o'er all diffused its magic spell,
And sweet contentment smiled in every shell ;
Where Friendship's genial ray each bosom warmed,
Doubled each joy, and every fear disarmed.
Where oft by Fancy led, in sportive mood,
They scaled the rocks, or burrowed in the mud.
Roamed o'er the pebbly shore, or 'mid the reeds
Chased their kind loves and sought the cooling

shades.
There, sheltered close from Phoebus' noontide

beam,

Wooed the soft breeze that crept along the stream,
Told their fond longings to the listening fair,
And claimed for love its sweetest triumphs there ;
Where, all at ease, beneath the genial day,

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In glowing charms each panting beauty lay ;
Harmonious with surrounding Nature's fires
And dreaming thoughts that dreamy Love inspires.
While some from valves, in wild, mischievous play,
O'er sleeping comrades jerk the cooling spray,
Or slily crack the sea-weed's slimy fruit
Where ardent lover presses earnest suit,
Or nip the bee, or gaudy summer fly
As skimming the stream they flit exulting by.
Or watch, perchance, swift darting from the skies
The screaming hawk secure his scaly prize,
Or mark the nimble trout, in sportive mood,
Leap from the stream and frolic in the flood,
Basking his glittering sides in noontide rays,
Or devious paddling, in a sluggish ease,
While various songsters from each pensile limb
That hung umbrageous o'er the sun-lit stream.
The languid air with warbled richness cloy,
Telling in music all their amorous joy.
As thus, the pleasures of their simple homes
They various see — a deeper anguish comes
O'er each fond bosom, and in hopeless tears
Fond memory lingering murmurs, while appears
Despair with sable banner, through the gloom,
And waves them on, reluctant, to their doom.

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The stern CLOCINDA marks them for her own,
Each by her hand remorseless now, is thrown
Within the bubbling cauldron ; hissing fires
Their requiem sing, and bubbling each expires.
One last embrace, one long, entrancing kiss,
One lingering dream of love and happiness
The lovers know, then tearfully await
The dreadful summons of impending fate.
Oh ! great divinity of wedded love !
Let grief like theirs thy kind compassion move.
And thou, bright Venus ! to thy votaries come,
And rescue them from this too early doom ;
Arm all thy Cupids, bid the potent band
Arrest for once the stern Clocinda's hand —
Still let them live, and all thy pleasures prove
Too short, as yet, their happy dream of love !
How sad, at length when sweet fruition crowns
Hope's golden dream, and fortune adverse frowns
No more, but wreath-ed now in smiles
With bliss before unknown the heart beguiles :
When, soul to soul, by sweet emotions tied,
And every wish and every thought allied ;
Dependent each, and every look revealing
The depth of joy, the ecstacy of feeling —
When all the future seems a present bliss,

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And life but a dream of happiness,
The world an Eden, where each joy to prove,
With time, a slave to minister to love.
'Tis sad that thea an adverse fate should sever
Those golden joys they dreamt were joys for ever.
In vain their love, their fondest hopes in vain,
Vanished their dream — no more to know again,
Those sweet desires, those springs of soft emotion,
That priceless gift a heart's unbought devotion ;
All that of earth to brighten life is given,
Firm as the faith, and pure as joys of Heaven.
Fate's summons comes ; together clasped they die —
Together STEWED ! within the pot they lie ! —
Mourn ye fond lovers ! their untimely fate,
Weep, weep, ye Cupids who on lovers wait —
Yet — weep them not, nor mourn their early doom
In JULIA'S throat! they find an envied toinb!

FINIS.

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