Straight, straight towards that oaken beam, A trampled pathway ran; A ghastly shape was swinging there,- LINES BY A CLERK. OH! I did love her dearly, And gave her toys and rings, And I thought she meant sincerely, When she took my pretty things; But her heart has grown as icy As a fountain in the fall, And her love, that was so spicy, It did not last at all. I gave her once a locket, It was filled with my own hair, For my cooings and my billings But my dollars and my shillings They were earned with toil and sorrow, And now I have to borrow, Think, think, thou cruel Emma, Look, look upon this hole, Before the gates of fashion Had bowed a soul before it, Thine eye was on the censer, And not the hand that bore it. REFLECTIONS OF A PROUD PEDESTRIAN. I SAW the curl of his waving lash, And the glance of his knowing eye, And I knew that he thought he was cutting a dash, As his steed went thundering by. And he may ride in the rattling gig, But he shall think, when the night is still, Shall hover around his slumbers; The ghastly dun shall worry his sleep, REFLECTIONS OF A PROUD PEDESTRIAN. Ay! gather your reins, and crack your thong, And hurry away on your lonely ride, 121 |