ALL IN THE DOWNS.

They say, if a number you count, and recount, That the time imperceptibly goes,

Ah! I wish-how I wish!-I'd ne'er learnt the

amount

Of my aggregate fingers and toes.

"Enjoyment is fleeting," the proverbs all say, "Even that which it feeds upon fails."

I've arrived at the truth of the saying to-day, By devouring the whole of my nails.

I have numbered the minutes so heavy and slow,

Till of that dissipation I tire,

And as for exciting amusements, you know

One can't always be stirring the fire.

THOMAS HOOD, JUN.

376

THE COURTSHIP AND WEDDING.

AS

SI went to the wake that is held on the green,

I met with young Phoebe, as blithe as a queen; A form so divine might an anchorite move, And I found (tho' a clown) I was smitten with love: So I ask'd for a kiss, but she, blushing, replied, Indeed, gentle shepherd, you must be denied.

Lovely Phoebe, says I, don't affect to be shy,
I vow I will kiss you-here's nobody by;
No matter for that, she replied, 'tis the same;
For know, silly shepherd, I value my fame;
So pray let me go, I shall surely be miss'd;
Besides, I'm resolved that I will not be kiss'd.

Lord bless me! I cried, I'm surprised you refuse;

A few harmless kisses but serve to amuse;

TO MILDRED.

The month it is May, and the season for love,
So come, my dear girl, to the wake let us rove.
No, Damon, she cried, I must first be your wife,
You then shall be welcome to kiss me for life.

Well, come then, I cried, to the church let us go,
But after, dear Phoebe must never say "No."
Do you prove but true, (she replied,) you shall find
I'll ever be constant, good-humour'd and kind.
So I kiss when I please, for she ne'er says she won't,
And I kiss her so much, that I wonder she don't.
ANONYMOUS.

TO MILDRED.

OU shun me like a fawn, my dearest Milly,

You

That seeks its mother on the pathless hills, Trembling at every sound-the little silly

Of whispering breezes or of gurgling rills.

KITTY OF COLERAINE.

Gazing, with trembling knees and beating heart. At new-found marvels that she dare not pass;

And bounding off again with sudden start

From rustling leaves or lizards in the grass.

Don't be alarmed, my darling-I won't eat you— I'm not a Bengal tiger nor a lion;

Leave your mamma for one who'll never cheat you ;

You'd like a husband if you'd only try one.

ANONYMOUS.

KITTY OF COLERAINE.

As

S beautiful Kitty one morning was tripping,

With a pitcher of milk from the fair of

Coleraine,

When she saw me she stumbled, the pitcher it tum

bled,

And all the sweet butter-milk water'd the plain.

KITTY OF COLERAINE.

O, what shall I do now, 'twas looking at you now,

Sure, sure, such a pitcher I'll ne'er meet again, 'Twas the pride of my dairy, O, Barney M'Leary, You're sent as a plague to the girls of Coleraine.

I sat down beside her, and gently did chide her, That such a misfortune should give her such pain, A kiss then I gave her, before I did leave her, She vow'd for such pleasure she'd break it again.

'Twas hay-making season, I can't tell the reason, Misfortunes will never come single,-that's plain,

For, very soon after poor Kitty's disaster,

The devil a pitcher was whole in Coleraine.

380

ANONYMOUS.