And first, it's semblance to begin, I tell thee frank and free, There's nought on earth can make me sing, Then pledge the cup to me, Sweetheart! And I will shew thee ere we part, This bottle's ruby as thy cheek, And sparkling as thine eye; And, like thy fond heart, should it break, And when it's blissful tide I sip, That tide of Love and Wit, Methinks it is thine own sweet lip, Which mine's so loath to quit. Then pledge the cup to me, Sweetheart! Oh! pledge the cup to me! And I will shew thee, ere we part, A sadder semblance is behind! Ah! Sweetheart! thou wilt die ! And so the bottle's tide, we find, Ebbs low, which flow'd so high. Then, -as I'll do when I lose thee,My grief and care to smother, I'll bless it's memory, and flee For comfort to another! Then pledge the cup to me, Sweetheart! Oh! pledge the cup to me! And let's drink deeply, ere we part, Since Wine resembles thee. "NEW EUROPEAN MAGAZINE." 1823. STANZAS. SUNS will set, and moons will wane, Yet they rise and wax again; Trees, that Winter's storms subdue, Their leafy livery renew; Ebb and flow is Ocean's lot; But Man lies down and rises not: Vessels but to havens steer; Nile, whose waves their boundaries burst, Slakes the torrid desert's thirst; Dew, descending on the hills, Life in Nature's veins instils; Showers, that on the parch'd meads fall, Man alone sheds tears of pain, Weeps, but ever weeps in vain! "FORGET ME NOT." 1826. THOUGHTS. I SAW a Glow-worm on a grave, A share in the banquet there. And I thought of Fame, can it lighten the gloom, Or warm the chilliness of the tomb? I gazed on Saturn's beautiful ring, Round the orb that it did not touch. And I thought of Hope, that shines bright and high, Never close, but ever nigh. I saw the dew-drops gemming the flowers, But they vanish'd away in a few short hours, As o'er them the Sun his full radiance flung; And I thought of Youth's generous feelings, how soon They're parch'd and dried up in Manhood's noon. I saw a tree by a fair river's side, Put forth many a strong and vigorous shoot, But it breathed nought but pestilence far and wide, And it poison'd the stream, that bathed it's root. And I thought of Ingratitude piercing the breast, That has nursed it to strength, and has rock'd it to rest. I saw the leaves gliding down the brook, Swift the brook ran, and bright the sun burn'd; The sere and the verdant, the same course they took, And sped gaily and fast, but they never return'd. And I thought how the years of a Man pass away, Threescore and ten, and then, where are they? "FORGET ME NOT." 1827. THE COMET. O'ER the blue Heavens, majestic and alone, He treads, as treads a Monarch towards his throne; Darkness her leaden sceptre lifts in vain, Crush'd and consumed beneath his fiery wain; And Night's swarth cheeks, pain'd by his gazing eye, Blush like Aurora's, as he passes by. See how the countless hosts of Heaven turn pale! The blood-red cheek of Mars begins to fail; And the stern Gorgon on his brightness rests Save when it's lingering echoes they prolong, "FRIENDSHIP'S OFFERING." 1826. |