The seaman with sincere delight For seamen much believe in signs, Hail, honour'd land! a desert where Yet parent of this loving pair And ye who, rather than resign Were not afraid to plough the brine For whose lean country much disdain Be it your fortune, year by year, And may ye, sometimes landing here, DEAR architect of fine chateaux in air, But I am bankrupt now, and doom'd henceforth ON A SPANIEL CALLED BEAU, KILLING A YOUNG BIRD. [JULY 15, 1793.] A SPANIEL, Beau, that fares like you, Should wiser be than to pursue But you have kill'd a tiny bird, Which flew not till to-day, Against my orders, whom you heard Forbidding you the prey. Nor did you kill that you might eat And ease a doggish pain, For him, though chased with furious heat, You left where he was slain. Nor was he of the thievish sort, My dog! what remedy remains, BEAU'S REPLY. SIR, when I flew to seize the bird You cried Forbear-but in my breast Yet much as Nature I respect, And when your linnet on a day, Had flutter'd all his strength away, Well knowing him a sacred thing, I only kiss'd his ruffled wing, And lick'd the feathers smooth. Let my obedience then excuse Nor some reproof yourself refuse If killing birds be such a crime, ON RECEIVING HEYNE'S VIRGIL FROM MR HAYLEY. [OCTOBER, 1793.] I SHOULD have deem'd it once an effort vain TO MARY. [How well this tribute of admiration and attachment was merited a tribute expressive at once of all that is purest, yet most ardent, in affection—appears from the following passage in one of Lady Hesketh's letters to her sister :- "Mrs Unwin is very far from grave: on the contrary, she is cheerful and gay, and laughs, de bon cœur, upon the smallest provocation. Amidst all the little puritanical words which fall from her de tems en tems, she seems to have by nature a great fund of gaiety—great, indeed, must it have been, not to have been totally overcome by the close confinement in which she has lived, and the anxiety she must have undergone for one whom she certainly loves as well as one human being can love another. I will not say she idolizes him, because that she would think wrong, but she certainly seems to possess the truest regard and affection for this excellent creature; and, as I before said, has, in the most literal sense of the word, no will or shadow of inclination but what is his. How she has supported herself as she has done-the constant attendance, day and night, which she has gone through for the last thirteen years-is to me, I confess, incredible! and, in justice to her, I must say, she does it all with an ease that relieves you from any idea of its being a state of sufferance. She speaks of him in the highest terms; and by her astonishing management, he is never mentioned in Olney but with the highest respect and veneration." The poem was written .n the autumn of 1793.] THE twentieth year is well nigh past, Ah, would that this might be the last, Thy spirits have a fainter flow, I see thee daily weaker grow. My Mary! 'Twas my distress that brought thee.low, My Mary! Thy needles, once a shining store, My Mary! For though thou gladly would'st fulfil My Mary! But well thou play'dst the housewife's part, Have wound themselves about this heart, My Mary! Thy indistinct expressions seem Like language utter'd in a dream; Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme, My Mary! Thy silver locks, once auburn bright, My Mary! |