And shouldst thou, compell'd by a frost, Only pay as thou paid'st me before. This music must needs be confess'd Unchangeable friendship and love? That can be delighted by sound, STRADA'S NIGHTINGALE. THE shepherd touch'd his reed; sweet Philomel The peevish youth, who ne'er had found before And soon (for various was his tuneful store) She dared the task, and, rising as he rose, With all the force that passion gives inspired, Return'd the sounds awhile, but in the close Exhausted fell, and at his feet expired. Thus strength, not skill prevail'd. O fatal strife, ODE ON THE DEATH OF A LADY, WHO LIVED ONE HUNDRED YEARS, AND DIED ON HER ANCIENT dame, how wide and vast All thy multitude of years! We, the herd of human kind, Frailer and of feebler powers; Death's delicious banquet-we Nourish'd but to feed the tomb. Seeds of merciless disease Lurk in all that we enjoy ; Some that suddenly destroy. And, if life o'erleap the bourn Fast as moons can wax and wane If a few (to few 'tis given), Lingering on this earthly stage, Creep and halt with steps uneven To the period of an age, Wherefore live they, but to see Oft was seen, in ages past, All that we with wonder view; Often shall be to the last; Earth produces nothing new. Thee we gratulate, content Should propitious Heaven design Life for us as calmly spent, Though but half the length of thine. THE CAUSE WON. Two neighbours furiously dispute; Trivial the spot, yet such the rage -at whatsoever cost. The pleadings swell. Words still suffice: Defendant thus becomes a name, THE SILKWORM. THE beams of April, ere it goes, That serves him-till he needs no more! Though till his growing time be past That hour arrived, his work begins. He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins; Till circle upon circle, wound Careless around him and around, Conceals him with a veil, though slight, And, though a worm when he was lost, When next we see him, wings he wears, With future worms and future flies Well were it for the world, if all THE INNOCENT THIEF. NOT a flower can be found in the fields, |