Page images
PDF
EPUB

III.

December perhaps has purloin'd

Her rich tho' fantastical geer;

With envy the months may have join'd,
And jostled her out of the year.

Some shepherds, 'tis true, may repine
To see their lov'd gardens undrest;
But I---whilst my Phillida's mine,
Shall always have May in my breast.

ON SIR W-B-T's RBIRTH DAY.

DOES true Felicty on Grandeur wait?
Delights she in the pageantry of show?
Say, can the glitt'ring gewgaws of the great
An hour of inborn happiness bestow?

He that is just, benevolent, humane,

In conscious rectitude supremely blest, O'er the glad hearts of multitudes shall reign, Tho' the gay star ne'er blaz'd upon his breast.

Ye happy Children of the hoary North!

Hail the glad day that saw your patron born, Whose private virtues and whose public worth Might the rich seats of Royalty adorn.

ON SEEING J. CFT, ESQ.

ABUSED IN A NEWSPAPER.

[blocks in formation]

Busy, pert, unmeaning parrot!
Vilest of the venal crews!

Co---and in your Grub-street garret
Hang yourself and paltry Muse.

Pity, too, the meddling sinner

Sould for hunger hang or drown; FX, (he must not want a dinner) Send the scribbler half a crown.

ON THE DEATH OF

LORD GRANBY.

FOR private loss the lenient tear may flow,
And give a short, perhaps a quick relief,
While the full heart, o'ercharg'd with public woe,
Must labour thro' a long protracted grief.

This sudden stroke ('twas like the lightning's blast)
The sons of Albion can't enough deplore;
Think, Britons! think on all his triumphs past,
And weep.---Your warrior is---alas! no more.

Blight, we are told, respects the conqueror's tree,
And thro' the laurel-grove with caution flies:
Vague---and how vain must that assertion be,
Cover'd with laurels, when a Granby dies!

MR.

ON THE DEATH OF

OF SUNDERLAND.

Go, breath of Sorrow---go, attending Sighs,
Acquaint the natives of the northern shore,
The man they lov'd, the man they honour'd, dies,
And Charity's first steward is no more.

Where shall the poor a friendly patron find?
Who shall relieve them from their loads of pain?
Say, has he left a feeling heart behind

So gracious---good---so tenderly humane?

Yes---there survives his darling offspring---young, Yet in the paths of Virtue steady---sure: 'Twas the last lesson from his parent's tongue, "Think, (O remember!) think upon my poor." F

ON THE DEATH OF

MRS. SLEIGH OF STOCKTON.

MUCH lov'd, much honour'd, much lamented Sleigh!
The kindred Virtues had expir'd with thee,
Were it ordain'd the daughters of the sky,
Like the frail offspring of the Earth, could die:
Trembling they stand at thy too early doom,
And mingling tears to consecrate thy tomb.

ON A VERY YOUNG LADY.

SEE how the buds and blossoms shoot!
How sweet will be the summer fruit!
Let us behold the infant rose,

How fragrant when its beauty blows
The morning smiles serenely gay,
How bright will be the promis'd day!
Contemplate next the charming maid
In early innocence array'd.

If in the morning of her years

A lustre so intense appears,

When time shall point her nocntide rays,
When her meridian charms shall blaze,
None but the eagle-ey'd must gaze.

SENT WITH A CHOICE COLLECTION OF BOOKS.

THO', gentle Youth! thy calm untainted mind
Be like a morning in the Spring serene,
Time may commit the passions unconfin'd
To the rude rigour of a noontide reign.

Then in the morn of placid life be wise;
And travel thro' the groves of science soon;
There cull the plants of virtue that may rise
A peaceful shelter from that sultry noon.

ON SEEING W. R. CHETWOOD

CHEERFUL IN A PRISON.

I.

SAY, lov'd Content---fair Goddess! say,

Where shall I seek thy soft retreat,
How shall I find thy halcyon seat,

Or trace thy secret way?

11:

Love pointed out a pleasing scene, Where nought but beauty could be found, With roses and with myrtles crown'd,

And nam'd thee for its queen.

« PreviousContinue »