Here, to the wrongs of Fate half reconcil'd,
Misfortune's lighten'd steps might wander wild;
And Disappointment, in these lonely bounds,
Find balm to soothe her bitter, rankling wounds;
Here heart-struck Grief might heav'nward stretch he.

scan,

And injur❜d Worth forget and pardon man.

LINES

WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL, STANDING BY THE FALL OF FYERS, NEAR LOCH-NESS.

AMONG the heathy hills and ragged woods,

The roaring Fyers pours his mossy floods;

Till full he dashes on the rocky mounds,

Where, through a shapeless breach, his stream resounds As high in air the bursting torrents flow,

As deep recoiling surges foam below,

Prone down the rock the whitening sheet descends,

And viewless Echo's ear, astonish'd, rends.

Dim-seen, through rising mists and ceaseless show'rs,
The hoary cavern, wide-surrounding, low'rs.
Still thro' the gap the struggling river toils,

And still below the horrid cauldron boils

OF A BOOK, PRESENTED TO HER BY THE AUTHOR.

BEAUTEOUS rose-bud, young and gay,

Blooming on thy early May,

Never may'st thou, lovely flower,

Chilly shrink in sleety show'r!

Never Boreas' hoary path,

Never Eurus' pois'nous breath,
Never baleful stellar lights,
Taint thee with untimely blights.
Never, never reptile thief
Riot on thy virgin leaf!

Nor even Sol too fiercely view

Thy bosom blushing still with dew!

May'st thou long, sweet crimson gem,
Richly deck thy native stem;
Till some evening, sober, calm,
Dropping dews, and breathing balm,
While all around the woodland rings,

And ev'y bird day requiem sings;

Thou, amid the dirgeful sound,
Shed thy dying honors round,
And resign to parent earth

The loveliest form she e'er gave birth.

VERSES

ON A YOUNG LADY, RESIDING ON THE BANKS OF THE SMALL RIVER DEVON, IN CLACKMANNANSHIRE, BUT WHOSE INFANT YEARS WERE SPENT IN AYRSHIRE

How pleasant the banks of the clear-winding Devon, With green spreading bushes, and flow'rs blooming

fair;

But the boniest flow'r on the banks of the Devon Was once a sweet bud on the braes of the Ayr.

Mild be the sun on this sweet-blushing flower,

In the gay, rosy morn, as it bathes in the dew! And gentle the fall of the soft vernal shower,

That steals on the evening each leaf to renew.

O, spare the dear blossom, ye orient breezes,

With chill, hoary wing, as ye usher the dawn! And far be thou distant, thou reptile that seizes The verdure and pride of the garden and lawn.

Let Bourbon exult in his gay gilded lilies,

And England triumphant display her proud rose; A fairer than either adorns the green valleys Where Devon, sweet Devon, meandering flows.

TO MISS L,

WITH BEATTIE'S POEMS AS A NEW-YEAR'S GIFT, 'AN UARY 1, 1787.

AGAIN the silent wheels of time

Their annual round have driv❜n,
And you, tho' scarce in maiden prime,
Are so much nearer heav'n.

No gifts have I, from Indian coasts,
The infant year to hail;

I send you more than India boasts,
In Edwin's simple tale.

Our sex with guile and faithless love
Is charg'd, perhaps too true;
But may, dear maid, each lover prove
An Edwin still to you.

VERSES

TO A YOUNG LADY, WITH A PRESENT OF SONGS.

HERE, where the Scottish muse immortal lives,
In sacred strains and tuneful numbers join'd,
Accept the gift; tho' humble he who gives,
Rich is the tribute of the grateful mind.

So may no ruffian-feeling in thy breast
Discordant jar thy bosom-chords among;
But peace attune thy gentle soul to rest,
Or love ecstatic wake his seraph song:

Or pity's notes, in luxury of tears,

As modest want the tale of wo reveals; While conscious virtue all the strain endears, And heav'n-born pety her sanction seals.

VERSES

WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF OF A COPY OF HIS POEMS, PRESENTED TO A LADY, WHOM HE HAD OFTEN CELEBRATED UNDER THE NAME OF CHLORIS.

"Tis Friendship's pledge, my young, fair friend,
Nor thou the gift refuse,

Nor with unwilling ear attend

The moralizing muse.

Since thou, in all thy youth and charms,

Must bid the world adieu,

(A world 'gainst peace in constant arms,)
To join the friendly few;

Since, thy gay morn of life o'ercast,
Chill came the tempest's lower;
(And ne'er misfortune's eastern blas
Did nip a fairer flow'r ;)