But let every sigh be repressed,

Since mutual our pleasures must be;·

The ivy that clings to its breast

Is reckoned a part of the tree.

And oh! may we never divide,
Till closed is this turbulent day!
Should I lose you, my sister and guide,
How dreary the rest of the way!

The friends of our earliest years,
(The gayest that ever we knew)
Alone, in this valley of tears,

Have left us our way to pursue;
But let these complainings subside,
For blessings I cannot recall ;
My Ann travels still by my side,
And she is far dearer than all.

THE VIOLET TO THE ROSE.

ENCLOSED in the shade of a forest profound, Where silence and solitude reign,

In colours diversified, scattered around, A little wild hamlet of flowers was found, The peasants of Flora's domain,

There blue-bells, and daisies, and primroses grew,
From tumult and vanity far:

Their pleasures were simple—their wishes were few,
They sipped every morning fresh draughts of the dew,
And slept with the evening star.

Amid the wild group, in this peaceful recess,

A Violet peeped from the earth;

But lately indeed she had altered her dress;

And some in the hamlet had reason to guess,
She was but a cowslip by birth.

While they with the breezes at play might be seen, Refusing to join in the sport,

She sighed for the garden where Rosa was queen, And despised her pale crest, and her trappings of green, When she heard of the splendours at court.

And often at night the disconsolate maid

Lamented, by others unseen;

Till a fairy from court who frequented the glade,

Overheard the complaint that poor

And told it again to the queen.

Kind Rosa was melted: 66

Violet made,

My fairy," said she,

"Again you must hasten away,

For none of my subjects unhappy shall be ;
So bear this encouraging message from me,
To make my poor Violet gay.

"Go tell her, assured of our royal support, No longer in sorrow to bend ;

Entreat her to smile and to join in their sport, For that blue is a favourite colour at court, And Rosa, the queen, is her friend."

Away, on a moonbeam, her message to tell,
The tiny ambassadress sped :

'Twas night when she reached little Violet's dell, But each nodding rustic unfolded his bell,

To hear what Queen Rosa had said.

The Violet trembled such honours to share,
And blushed for her folly and pride;

Yet pleased that a queen so enchantingly fair
Should deign for a poor simple peasant to care,
She thus to the fairy replied:-

"Return gentle spirit - for Rosa will own The tear that from gratitude flows;

And tell her that here, in her hamlet alone, Violetta will study, unseen and unknown, Those virtues that sweetly embellish the throne, And love her fair sovereign

1809.

the Rose."

BIRTH-DAY RETROSPECT.

THUS far life's little journey through,
Of scenes for ever gone

I'll take one retrospective view,

Before I speed me on.

Here, on this little hillock placed,

A moment let me standBefore me lies a desert waste;

Behind, a fairy land.

Winding through yon luxuriant vale,

Half hid in distance grey,

By many a hill and many a dale
I trace my youthful way.

But fast those fading scenes retire,

And mingle into one;

Though here a cot, and there a spire,

Still glitter in the sun.

And when athwart my wintry sky

He darts his latest gleam,

Those spots, till closed is memory's eye, Will sparkle in his beam.

Yes; happy was my youthful day;
I trod enchanted ground;

My spring, like other springs, was gay,
And roses bloomed around:

And now, though flying o'er my head
Are youth's departing years,
And often though the path I tread

Is watered by my tears;·

Still Hope, in many a gloomy hour,
Through many a weary mile,

Has cheered me with the magic power

Of her bewitching smile.

But Hope, farewell! — thy visions bright

Have dazzled me too long;

And shall I stay to watch thy flight,
And hear thy parting song?

And pilgrim-like, with staff and shell,
And clothed in habit grey,

I bid the smiling past farewell,
And speed me on my way.