STANZAS On the Death of the Duke of Reichstadt. BY EMMA C. EMBURY. HEIR of that name Which shook with sudden terror the far earth- When kings and princes round thy cradle came, How were the schemes Of human foresight baffled in thy fate, What glorious visions filled thy father's dreams, When first he gazed upon thy infant face, And deemed himself the Rodolph of his race! Scarce had thine eyes Beheld the light of day, when thou wert bound With Rome's imperial diadem:—the prize From priestly princes by thy proud sire won, To deck the pillow of his cradled son. Bidding whole seas of blood and carnage flow Alas! when foiled on his last battle plain, Its shattered fragments forged thy father's chain. Far worse thy fate Than that which doomed him to the barren rock Through half the universe was felt the shock, When down he toppled from his high estate; And the proud thought of still acknowledged pow Could cheer him e'en in that disastrous hour. But thou, poor boy! Hadst no such dreams to cheat the lagging hours, Thy chains still galled, tho' wreathed with fairest f Thou hadst no images of by-gone joy, No visions of anticipated fame, To bear thee through a life of sloth and shame. And where was she, Whose proudest title was Napoleon's wife? Did thy young head repose in its unrest? THE DEATH OF REICHSTADT. No! round her heart Children of humbler, happier lineage twined, Thou art at rest! Child of Ambition's martyr:-life had been Of doubt and dread and suffering at the best; For thou wert one, whose path, in these dark times, Would lead to sorrows-it may be to crimes. C 25 TO AN OLD MAN. BY PHILIP FRENEAU. WHY, dotard, wouldst thou longer groan Beneath a weight of years and woThy youth is lost, thy pleasures flown, And age proclaims, ""Tis time to go." To willows sad and weeping yews To summer suns and winter moons Prepare to bid a long adieu, Autumnal seasons shall return And spring shall bloom, but not for you. Why so perplexed with cares and toil "Tis but a thin, a thirsty soil, A barren and a bleak abode. C⭑ |