This elegant Rose had I shaken it lefs, Might have bloomed with its owner awhile; And the tear, that is wip'd with a little addrefs, May be follow'd perhaps with a smile. OCT 1,1817. ન કર્યું. THE ROSE. THE rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a shower, The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flower, The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, And it seem'd, to a fanciful view, To weep for the buds it had left with regret, On the flourishing bush where it grew. I hastily seized it, unfit as it was For a nosegay, so dripping and drown'd, - And swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas! I snapp'd it, it fell to the ground. And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, Might have bloom'd with its owner awhile, And the tear that is wiped with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile. THE WINTER NOSEGAY. WHAT Nature, alas! has denied And Winter is deck'd with a smile. From the shelter of that sunny shed, Where the flowers have the charms of the spring, Though abroad they are frozen and dead. "Tis a bower of Arcadian sweets, Where Flora is still in her prime, A fortress, to which she retreats From the cruel assaults of the clime. While Earth wears a mantle of snow, These pinks are as fresh and as gay As the fairest and sweetest, that blow On the beautiful bosom of May. See how they have safely survived The truth of a friend such as you. TO THE NIGHTINGALE. WHICH THE AUTHOR HEARD sing on neW YEAR'S DAY, 1792. WHENCE is it, that amazed I hear From yonder wither'd spray, The melody of May? And why, since thousands would be proud Of such a favour shown, Am I selected from the crowd, To witness it alone? Sing'st thou, sweet Philomel, to me, For that I also long Have practised in the groves like thee, Or sing'st thou rather under force Thrice welcome then! for many a long As thou to-day, put forth my song Beneath a wintry sky. But thee no wintry skies can harm, Who only need'st to sing, To make e'en January charm, And every season Spring. |