TO LADY CAROLINE LAMB.

BY THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD BYRON,

Sirteen Years ago.

AND say'st thou that I have not felt,

Whilst thou wert thus estranged from me ;

Nor know'st how dearly I have dwelt

On one unbroken dream of thee!

-But love like ours must never be,

And I will learn to prize thee less ;

As thou hast fled-so let me flee,

And change the heart thou mayest not bless!

They'll tell thee, Cara! I have seemed,
Of late, another's charms to woo;
Nor sighed-nor frowned-as if I deemed
That thou wert banished from my view.
Cara! this struggle to undo

What thou hast done, too well, for me—

-This mask before the babbling crew

This treachery--was truth to thee!

I have not wept while thou wert gone,
Nor worn one look of sullen woe ;—
But sought, in many, all that one
-Ah! need I name her?-could bestow.
-It is a duty which I owe

To thine to thee-to man-to God,
To crush-to quench-this guilty glow,

Ere yet the path of crime be trod !

But, since my breast is not so pure,—
Since still the vulture tears my heart,—
Let me this agony endure,

Not thee-oh! dearest as thou art!
-In mercy, Cara! let us part,

And I will seek yet know not how-
To shun, in time, the threatening dart
Guilt must not aim at such as thou.

But thou must aid me in the task,
And nobly thus exert thy power,—
Then spurn me hence-'tis all I ask—
Ere time mature a guiltier hour;
Ere wrath's impending vials shower
Remorse, redoubled, on my head;
Ere fires unquenchable devour

A heart-whose hope has long been dead.

Deceive no more thyself and me,—

Deceive not better hearts than mine;

-Ah! shouldest thou, whither wouldest thou flee,

From woe like ours-from shame like thine!
And if there be a wrath divine,

-A pang beyond this fleeting breath-
Even now all future hope resign,—

Such thoughts are guilt-such guilt is death!

BEAUTY, WEALTH, AND LOVE.

A ROMANCE.

BY MRS. CORNWELL BARON WILSON.

WEALTH, with golden key, once sought
To win the way to BEAUTY'S shrine;
Many a sparkling gem he brought,
And many a diamond from the mine:-
But Love, veiled in sly disguise,
Hovered round, near BEAUTY's bower,

Lest the gems of Eastern skies

Should weigh against his power!

WEALTH displayed his dazzling store,
-Pearly wreaths and ruby crowns!
BEAUTY ran the treasures o'er,
And smiles succeeded frowns.

What could LOVE oppose to this!—

He had but his crown of simple flowers,

That were bathed in the honied dew of bliss,

Culled fresh from his roseate bowers!

Then WEALTH, he laughed triumphantly,
As he led young BEAUTY'S steps along,
Who turned on Love a scornful eye,

And a cold ear to his song!

-Away they went,-and their path was strown
With many a rare and precious gem,

That springs up at WEALTH's command alone,—
All-all shone brightly for them!

But BEAUTY, at last, found out her mistake,

When time had broken the charm ;

As the moonbeam shines on the frozen lake,

WEALTH may glitter,-but cannot warm!

Then-too late-she remembered Love's rosy bowers, When the spell that beguiled was o'er;

And she sighed for the fresh unfading flowers

That could blossom for her-no more!