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, And she put it in her pocket With very special care. But a jeweller has got it, He offered it to me, And another that is not it Around her neck I see. 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, And want another hat. Think, think, thou cruel Emma, When thou shalt hear my woe, And know my sad dilemma, That thou hast made it so. See, see my beaver rusty, Look, look upon this hole, This coat is dim and dusty; Before the gates of fashion I daily bent my knee, But I sought the shrine of passion, And found my idol, — thee; Though never love intenser 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, And the ghost of many a veteran bill The ghastly dun shall worry his sleep, And he shall creep from the wood-hole deep Where their spectre eyes have found him! REFLECTIONS OF A PROUD PEDESTRIAN. Ay! gather your reins, and crack your thong, And bid your steed go faster; He does not know, as he scrambles along, And hurry away on your lonely ride, I will paddle it stoutly at your side With the tandem that nature gave me ! 121 |