SURNAMES.

THE entire merit of the following jeu d'esprit, consists in the original thought which suggested it. Throughout the whole, there is no variation in the thought, but the contrast of the name and character is so happily imagined, that it deserves a place in this selection. The versification is smooth, and the manner possesses the curiosa felicitas of genius.-ED.

Men once were surnamed from their shape or estate, (You all may from history worm it,)

There was Lewis the Bulky, and Henry the Great,
John Lackland, and Peter the Hermit.

But now, when the door-plates of misters and dames
Are read, each so constantly varies

From the owner's trade, figure, and calling, surnames,
Seem given by the rule of contraries.

Mr. Box, though provoked, never doubles his fist,
Mr. Burns in his grate has no fuel,

Mr. Playfair won't catch me at hazard or whist,
Mr. Coward was winged in a duel.

Mr. Wise is a dunce, Mr. King is a whig,
Mr. Coffin's uncommonly sprightly,
And huge Mr. Little broke down in a gig,
While driving fat Mrs. Golightly.

Mrs. Drinkwater's apt to indulge in a dram,
Mrs. Angel's an absolute fury,

And meek Mr. Lion let fierce Mr. Lamb

Tweak his nose in the lobby of Drury.

At Bath, where the feeble go more than the stout,
(A conduct well worthy of Nero,)

Over poor Mr. Lightfoot, confined with the gout,
Mr. Heaviside danced a Bolero.

Miss Joy, wretched maid, when she chose Mr. Love,
Found nothing but sorrow await her:

She now holds in wedlock, as true as a dove,
That fondest of mates Mr. Hayter.
Mr. Oldcastle dwells in a modern-built hut,
Miss Sage is of madcaps the archest;
Of all the queer bachelors Cupid e'er cut,
Old Mr. Younghusband's the starchest.

Mr. Child, in a passion, knock'd down Mr. Rock,
Mr. Stone like an aspen-leaf shivers,

Miss Poole used to dance, but she stands like a stock,
Ever since she became Mrs. Rivers.

Mr. Swift hobbles onward, no mortal knows how,
He moves as though cords had entwin'd him ;
Mr. Metcalfe ran off, upon meeting a cow,
With pale Mr. Turnbull behind him.

Mr. Barker's as mute as a fish in the sea,
Mr. Miles never moves on a journey,
Mr. Gotobed sits up till half-after-three,

Mr. Makepeace was bred an attorney.
Mr. Gardner can't tell a flower from a root,
Mr. Wild with timidity draws back,
Mr. Ryder performs all his journeys on foot,

Mr. Foot all his journeys on horseback.
Mr. Penny, whose father was rolling in wealth,
Kick'd down all the fortune his dad won;
Large Mr. Le Fever's the picture of health,
Mr. Goodenough is but a bad one.

Mr. Cruikshank stept into three thousand a year,

By shewing his leg to an heiress.

Now, I hope you'll acknowledge I've made it quite clear, Surnames ever go by contraries.

New Monthly Magazine.

1

THE

FEMALE CONVICT TO HER INFANT.

SYMPATHY is always a pleasing emotion, and therefore whatever excites it must necessarily impart pleasure. It requires a stubbornness of nerve which, if we ourselves possessed, we should blush to acknowledge, to read the female convict without sympathyzing with her situation. As this sympathy is pleasing, however mournful, and as the primary object of poetry is to please, we think the Female Convict worthy a place in our selection. ED.

Oh, sleep not my babe, for the morn of to-morrow Will hush me to slumbers more tranquil than thine; The dark grave will shield me from shame and from

sorrow,

Though the deeds and the doom of the guilty are mine. Not long shall the arm of affection enfold thee,

Not long shalt thou hang on thy mother's fond breast; And who with the eye of delight shall behold thee, Who watch thee, and guard thee, when I am at rest? And yet doth it grieve me to wake thee, my dearest, The pangs of thy desolate parent to see;

Thou wilt weep when the clank of my fetters thou hearest, And none but the guilty should mourn over me.

And yet must I wake thee,- for while thou art weeping, To calm thee, I stifle my tears for awhile;

But thou smil'st in thy dreams, while thus placidly sleeping,

And, oh! how it wounds me to gaze on thy smile!

Alas, my sweet babe! with what pride had I press'd thee,

To the bosom that now throbs with terror and shame; If the pure tie of virtuous affection had bless'd thee, And hail'd thee the heir of thy father's high name!

But now, with remorse that avails not, I mourn thee,
Forsaken and friendless as soon thou wilt be;
In a world, if it cannot betray, that will scorn thee,
Avenging the guilt of thy mother on thee.

And when the dark thought of thy fate shall awaken The deep blush of shame on thine innocent cheek'; When by all, but the God of the orphan, forsaken,

A home and-a father in vain thou shalt seek.

I know that the base world will strive to deceive thee,
With falsehood like that which thy mother beguil'd;
Deserted and helpless,-to whom can I leave thee?
O, God of the fatherless! pity my child!

New European Magazine.

THE DREAMS OF LIFE.

THEODORE is an evident imitation of Moore, at least in this and some other of his poetic effusions, and yet in calling him an imitator, we would by no means imply that he evinces either an absence of original powers, or original genius, for we believe no imitation can be perfect, without possessing both. A poet only can translate a poet, and genius only can imitate genius perfectly. It is true that some men possess a talent of imitating, but they possess it only in a certain degree, for in no instance whatever can they seize on the finer shades, and uncompounded beau ties of their original. A writer of genius and true taste will, therefore, have no difficulty in detecting the grossness of the imitation, and proving it to be a caricature instead of an imitation. Whatever is of a superior order in poetry, painting, music, and the fine arts in general, are incapable of being taught. "Ea quæ in oratore maxima sunt, imitibilia non sunt. Ingenium, inventio, vis, facilitas, et quid-quid arte non traditur." Hence they can only be imitated by genius, because it is only genius that can operate without instruction. Genius seizes at once by an indescribable and incommunicable feeling, the spirit of the original, the "soul of soul" by which it is animated; but talent can only grasp those tangible and grosser elements which present themselves to the eye of the senses, and are only the clothing of that spirit which he can neither feel nor perceive. Theodore, in this, and his other imitations of Moore, has happily seized upon his spirit, though we doubt whether he is capable of entering into all its depth and intensity. The following lines want the richness, luxuriance, and versatility of Moore, that plastic feeling, which vibrates to all the finer impulses and harmonies of nature, and in which, we think Moore has never been excelled,