POEMS OF LOVE AND SENTIMENT

MY FIRST FOLLY

STANZAS WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT

PRETTY Coquette, the ceaseless play
Of thine unstudied wit,

And thy dark eye's remembered ray
By buoyant fancy lit,

And thy young forehead's clear expanse,

Where the locks slept, as through the dance,

Dreamlike, I saw thee flit,

Are far too warm and far too fair

To mix with aught of earthly care;

But the vision shall come when my day is done,

A frail and a fair and a fleeting one!

And if the many boldly gaze

On that bright brow of thine, And if thine eye's undying rays

On countless coxcombs shine,

And if thy wit flings out its mirth,
Which echoes more of air than earth,

For other ears than mine,

I heed not this; ye are fickle things,
And I like your very wanderings;

I gaze, and if thousands share the bliss,
Pretty capricious! I heed not this.

In sooth I am a wayward youth,
As fickle as the sea,

And very apt to speak the truth,
Unpleasing though it be;

I am no lover; yet as long

As I have heart for jest or song,

An image, Sweet, of thee,

Locked in my heart's remotest treasures,

Shall ever be one of its hoarded pleasures; ·

This from the scoffer thou hast won,
And more than this he gives to none.

STANZAS

WRITTEN IN THE FIRST LEAF OF "LILLIAN"

TALK not to me of learned dust,

Of reasoning and renown,

Of withering wreath and crumbling bust,

Torn book and tattered gown;

Oh Wisdom lives in Folly's ring,

And beards, thank Heaven, are not the thing!

Then let me live a long romance,

And learn to trifle well;

And write my motto, “Vive la danse,”

And "Vive la bagatelle!"

And give all honour, as is fit,

To sparkling eyes, and sparkling wit.

And let me deem, when Sophs condemn
And Seniors burn my lays,

That some bright eyes will smile on them,
And some kind hearts will praise;