TO MRS

Thus in our looks some propagation lies, For we make babies in each other's eyes!

TO ROSA.

DOES the harp of Rosa slumber?
Once it breathed the sweetest number!
Never does a wilder song
Steal the breezy lyre along,
When the wind, in odours dying,
Woos it with enamour'd sighing.
Does the harp of Rosa cease?
Once it told a tale of peace

To her lover's throbbing breast-
Then he was divinely blest!
Ah! but Rosa loves no more,
Therefore Rosa's song is o'er;
And her harp neglected lies;
And her boy forgotten sighs.
Silent harp-forgotten lover-
Rosa's love and song are over!

Think that thou givest thy dearest kiss,
And I will think I feel the bliss,
Then, if thou blush, that blush be mine;
And, if I weep, the tear be thine!

ΤΟ

CAN I again that form caress,

Or on that lip in rapture twine? No, no! the lip that all may press

Shall never more be press'd by mine.

Can I again that look recal

Which once could make me die for thee? No, no! the eye that burns on all

Shall never more be prized by me!

WRITTEN IN THE BLANK LEAF OF A LADY'S
COMMON-PLACE BOOK.

HERE is one leaf reserved for me,
From all thy sweet memorials free;
And here my simple song might tell
The feelings thou must guess so well.
But could I thus, within thy mind,
One little vacant corner find,
Where no impression yet is seen,
Where no memorial yet has been,
Oh! it should be my sweetest care
To write my name for ever there!

SONG.

AWAY with this pouting and sadness! Sweet girl! will you never give o'er? I love you, by Heaven! to madness,

And what can I swear to you more? Believe not the old woman's fable,

That oaths are as short as a kiss; I'll love you as long as I'm able,

And swear for no longer than this.

Then waste not the time with professions;
For not to be blest when we can
Is one of the darkest transgressions

That happen 'twixt woman and man.-
Pretty moralist! why thus beginning
My innocent warmth to reprove?
Heaven knows that I never loved sinning-
Except little sinnings in love!

If swearing, however, will do it,

Come, bring me the calendar, pray—
I vow by that lip I'll go through it,
And not miss a saint on my way.
The angels shall help me to wheedle;
I'll swear upon every one

That e'er danced on the point of a needle,'

Or rode on a beam of the sun!

I believe Mr Little alluded here to a famous question among the early schoolmen: How many thousand angels could dance upon the point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another? If he could have been thinking of the schools while he was writing this song, we cannot say canit indoctum..

Oh! why should Platonic control, love,

Enchain an emotion so free?
Your soul, though a very sweet soul, love,
Will ne'er be sufficient for me.

If you think, by this coolness and scorning,
To seem more angelic and bright,
Be an angel, my love, in the morning,
But, oh! be a woman to-night!

TO ROSA.

LIKE him who trusts to summer skies,
And puts his little bark to sea,
Is he who, lured by smiling eyes,
Consigns his simple heart to thee:
For fickle is the summer wind,

And sadly may the bark be toss'd; For thou art sure to change thy mind, And then the wretched heart is lost!

TO ROSA.

On! why should the girl of my soul be in tears
At a meeting of rapture like this,
When the glooms of the past, and the sorrow of years,
Have been paid by a moment of bliss?

Are they shed for that moment of blissful delight Which dwells on her memory yet?

Do they flow, like the dews of the amorous night, From the warmth of the sun that has set?

Oh! sweet is the tear on that languishing smile,
That smile which is loveliest then;

And if such are the drops that delight can beguile,
Thou shalt weep them again and again!

RONDEAU.

GOOD night! good night!—and is it so? And must I from my Rosa go?

Oh, Rosa! say Good night!» once more,
And I'll repeat it o'er and o'er,
Till the first glance of dawning light
Shall find us saying still, Good night!

And still Good night! my
Rosa say-
But whisper still, A minute stay;
And I will stay, and every minute
Shall have an age of rapture in it.
We'll kiss and kiss in quick delight,
And murmur,
while we kiss, Good night!

« Good night! you'll murmur with a sigh, And tell me it is time to fly:

And I will vow to kiss no more,

Yet kiss you closer than before;

Till slumber seal our weary sight

And then, my love! my soul! Good night! »

AN ARGUMENT.

TO ANY PHILLIS OR CHLOE. I've oft been told by learned friars,

That wishing and the crime are one,

Weep on, weep on, my pouting vine!
Heaven grant no tears, but tears of wine.
Weep on; and, as thy sorrows flow,
I'll taste the luxury of woe!

ANACREONTIQUE.

FRIEND of my soul! this goblet sip,
'T will chase that pensive tear;
"T is not so sweet as woman's lip,
But, oh! 't is more sincere.
Like her delusive beam,

'T will steal away thy mind;
But, like affection's dream,

It leaves no sting behind!

Come, twine the wreath, thy brows to shade;
These flowers were cull'd at noon;-

Like woman's love the rose will fade,
But ah! not half so soon!

For, though the flower 's decay'd,

Its fragrance is not o'er;

But once when love 's betray'd,

The heart can bloom no more!

. Neither do I condemn thee! go, and sin no more!» ST Joux, chap. viii.

Оn, woman, if by simple wile

Thy soul has stray'd from honour's track,

'T is mercy only can beguile,

By gentle ways, the wanderer back.

The stain that on thy virtue lies,

Wash'd by thy tears may yet decay; As clouds that sully morning skies May all be wept in showers away.

Go, go-be innocent, and live

The tongues of men may wound thee sore;

But Heaven in pity can forgive,

And bids thee« Go, and sin no more!

LOVE AND MARRIAGE.

Eque brevi verbo ferre perenne malum.-Secundus, elez. vii.

STILL the question I must parry,

Still a wayward truant prove: Where I love, I must not marry, Where I marry, cannot love.

Were she fairest of creation,

With the least presuming mind, Learned without affectation; Not deceitful, yet refined;

Wis enough, but never rigid;

Gay, but not too lightly free; Chaste as snow, and yet not frigid; Warm, yet satisfied with me:

Were she all this, ten times over, All that Heaven to earth allows, I should be too much her lover Ever to become her spouse.