And when I raise my dreaming arm to check or cheer thy speed,

Then must I, starting, wake to feel,—thou'rt sold, my Arab steed!

Ah! rudely, then, unseen by me, some cruel hand may chide,

Till foam-wreaths lie, like crested waves, along thy panting side:

And the rich blood that's in thee' swells, in thy indignant pain,

Till careless eyes, which rest on thee, may count each starting vein.

Will they ill-use thee? If I thought—but no, it cannot be

Thou art so swift, yet easy curbed; so gentle, yet so free: And yet, if haply, when thou'rt gone, my lonely heart should yearn

Can the hand which cast thee from it now command thee to return?

Return! alas! my Arab steed! what shall thy master do,

When thou, who wast his all of joy, hast vanished from his view?

When the dim distance cheats mine eye, and through the gathering tears,

Thy bright form, for a moment, like the false mirage

appears;

1

Slow and unmounted shall I roam, with weary step alone,

Where with fleet step, and joyous bound, thou oft hast borne me on;

1 Mirage-a deception of the sight, by which objects on the earth appear raised into the air.

And sitting down by that green well, I'll pause and sadly think,

"It was here he bowed his glossy neck when last I saw him drink!"

When last I saw thee drink!—Away! the fevered dream is o'er

I could not live a day, and know that we should meet

no more!

They tempted me, my beautiful! -for hunger's power is strong

They tempted me, my beautiful!—but I have loved too long.

Who said that I had given thee up? who said that thou wast sold ?

'Tis false 'tis false, my Arab steed! I fling them back their gold!

Thus, thus, I leap upon thy back, and scour the distant plains;

Away! who overtakes us now shall claim thee for his pains!

Mrs. Norton.

THE SILK-WORM.

FROM THE LATIN OF VINCENT BOURNE.

THE beams of April, ere it goes,
A worm, scarce visible, disclose;
All winter long content to dwell
The tenant of his native shell.
The same prolific season gives
The sustenance by which he lives,

The mulberry-leaf, a simple store,
That serves him-till he needs no more!
For, his dimensions once complete,
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;
Though, till his growing-time be past,
Scarce ever is he seen to fast.
That hour arrived, his work begins;
He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins;
Till circle upon circle wound

Careless around him and around,
Conceals him with a veil, though slight,
Impervious to the keenest sight.
Thus self-enclosed, as in a cask,2
At length he finishes his task :

And, though a worm when he was lost,
Or caterpillar at the most,

When next we see him, wings he wears,
And in papilio 3 pomp appears;
Becomes oviparous; supplies
With future worms and future flies
The next ensuing year !—and dies.

Well were it for the world, if all
Who creep about this earthly ball—
Though shorter-lived than most he be-
Were useful in their kind as he.

Cowper.

1 Impervious that cannot be passed through or penetrated.

2 In allusion to the cocoon or web, in which the silk-worm envelopes himself.

3 Papilio-butterfly.

4

Oviparous-bringing forth eggs.

A WISH.

MINE be a cot beside the hill;

A beehive's hum shall soothe my ear;
A willowy brook, that turns the mill,
With many a fall shall linger near.
The swallow oft beneath my thatch
Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;
Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch,
And share my meal, a welcome guest.

Around my ivied porch shall spring.
Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew;
And Lucy at her wheel shall sing

In russet gown and apron blue.

Rogers.

THE DAISY.

ON FINDING ONE IN BLOOM ON CHRISTMAS-DAY,

THERE is a flower, a little flower,
With silver crest and golden eye,
That welcomes every changing hour,
And weathers every sky;

The prouder beauties of the field
In gay but quick succession shine;
Race after race their honours yield,
They flourish and decline,

But this small flower, to Nature dear,

While moons and stars their courses run,

Wreathes the whole circle of the year,
Companion of the sun.

It smiles upon the lap of May

To sultry August spreads its charms,
Lights pale October on its way,
And twines December's arms.

The purple heath, and golden broom,
On moory mountains catch the gaie,
O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume,
The violet in the vale;

But this bold floweret climbs the hill,
Hides in the forest, haunts the glen,
Plays on the margin of the rill,
Peeps round the fox's den.

Within the garden's cultured round,
It shares the sweet carnation's bed;
And blooms on consecrated ground,
In honour of the dead.

1

The lambkin crops its crimson gem,
The wild bee murmurs on its breast,
The blue fly bends its pensile 2 stem
Light o'er the sky-lark's nest.

"Tis Flora's page: -In every place,
In every season, fresh and fair,
It opens with perennial 5 grace,
And blossoms everywhere.

On waste and woodland, rock and plain,
Its humble buds unheeded rise;
The rose has but a summer reign,
The Daisy never dies.

1 Gem-the first bud of the flower.
2 Pensile-hanging, bending.
3 Flora-the Goddess of Flowers.
Page-an attendant.

5 Perennial-perpetual.

"Montgomery.