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[Title Page]
BY
TRIFLES LIGHT AS AIR. SHAKSPEARE.
VRAI PAPILLON DE PARNASSE. LA FONTAINE.
LONDON:
FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 6, BRIDGE STREET
1807.
T. BENSLEY, PRINTER,
BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON.
TO
IN the rites of Heathen piety we are told that a Dove was propitiously received where the ability of the votarist was inadequate to an Hecatomb . Suffer me then to believe that in friendship, as in religion, the motive , not the
value , of an offering propitiates its acceptance; and that this little volume will be estimated by YOU , not according to its own worth, but according to that sentiment with which it is presented by ME . At some distant day I might solicit your attention to some less "IDLE vision;" but the ardour of gratitude spurns the cold delay of protracted intention, while its impatient feelings call for an immediate avowal. I have therefore seized on this opportunity, not as the happiest , but the first that occurs of publicly acknowledging the many acts of disinterested friendship I have received from your kindness, and of assuring you that I am,
with every sentiment of respect and admiration for the benevolence of your heart, the liberality of your mind, and the literary taste and talents you possess,
Your obliged and grateful servant, SYDNEY OWENSON .
THE Romans had a term exclusively appropriate to poetical trifles , and the Greeks an epithet as exclusively applied to poetical triflers .
Neither the Moorish loftiness of the Spanish, nor the elevated gravity of the Italian literature, has exempted them from that species of sportive composition which, though
generally the effect of minor talent (tasteful in its mediocrity ), is sometimes the effusion of superior genius, in the absence of its higher inspiration. But I believe the French language above any other abounds with those metrical trifles which, as the offspring of minds elegantly gay and intimately associated, have obtained the name of "vers de societe ," and which frequently possess an exquisite finesse of thought, that does not exclude nature, and is most happily adapted to the delicate idiom of the language in which it flows.
Did this little volume aspire to any class in literature, I would rank it among the last and least of those bagatelles to which I have
alluded; for the fragments it contains were written at distant periods, and in those careless intervals of life when judgment no longer breathes the Qui va la? to fancy! when feeling is inspiration! and when the mind, too desultory for narrative composition, or too indolent for connected detail, resigns itself to the impulse of transient emotion, and gives back to the heart some simple but endeared image the heart's own feelings had supplied.
It may be alledged, that a work so avowedly inconsequent ought not to be obtruded on public attention; but in the freedom of human agency there is no act more optional than that of purchasing and that of perusing
a book merely and professedly amusive .-- And the success of my late trivial publications, and the liberality of my publisher, (who, after all, as Dr. Johnson remarks, "is the best patron,") rendered it an object of pecuniary consequence to give to "an airy nothing a local habitation and a name," which was too harmless to injure , if too insignificant to interest , those into whose hands chance or curiosity may throw it.
It were perhaps politic to anticipate the severity of criticism, by candidly acknowledging the too frequent admission of French quotations . But if there are many elegant triflers in English poetry, either the paucity of my reading or the treachery of my me-
mory prevented my claims on their assistance; while the poetical badiers of France came "skipping rank and file " to my aid, and illustrated MY (LESS felicitous) trifles by theirs , in a language which above every other is constructed--
Fragment
WHY
sleeps the Harp of Erin's pride?
Why with'ring droops its Shamrock wreath?
Why has that song of sweetness died
Which Erin's Harp alone can breathe?
II.
Oh! 'twas the simplest, wildest thing!
The sighs of Eve
that faintest flow
O'er airy lyres, did never fling
So sweet, so sad, a song of woe.
III.
And yet its sadness seem'd to borrow
From love, or joy, a mystic spell;
'Twas doubtful still if bliss
or sorrow
From its melting lapses fell.
IV.
For if amidst its tone's soft languish
A note of love or joy e'er stream'd,
'Twas the plaint of love-sick anguish,
And still the "joy of grief" it seem'd.
V.
'Tis said oppression
taught the lay
To him--(of all the "sons of song"
That bask'd in Erin's brighter day)
The last
of the inspir'd throng;
VI.
That not in sumptuous hall, or bow'r,
To victor chiefs, on tented plain,
To festive souls, in festal hour,
Did he (sad bard!) pour forth the strain.
VII.
Oh no! for he, opprest, pursued, b
Wild, wand'ring, doubtful of his course,
With tears his silent Harp bedew'd,
That drew from Erin
's woes their source.
VIII.
It was beneath th' impervious gloom
Of some dark forest's deepest dell,
'Twas at some patriot hero's tomb
,
Or on the drear heath where he
fell.
IX.
It was beneath the loneliest cave
That roofs the brow of misery,
Or stems the ocean's wildest wave,
Or mocks the sea-blast's keenest sigh.
X.
It was through night's most spectral hours,
When reigns the spirit of dismay
,
And terror
views demoniac pow'rs
Flit ghastly round in dread array.
XI.
Such was the time, and such the place,
The bard respir'd his
song of woe,
To those, who had of Erin's race
Surviv'd their freedom's vital blow.
XII.
Oh, what a lay the minstrel breath'd!
How many bleeding hearts around,
In suff'ring sympathy enwreath'd,
Hung desponding o'er the sound!
XIII.
For still his Harp's wild plaintive tones
Gave back their sorrows keener still,
Breath'd sadder
sighs, heav'd deeper
moans,
And wilder wak'd despair's
wild thrill.
XIV.
For still he sung the ills that flow
From dire oppression's ruthless fang,
And deepen'd every patriot woe,
And sharpen'd every patriot pang.
XV.
Yet, ere he ceas'd, a prophet's fire
Sublim'd his lay, and louder rung
The deep-ton'd music of his lyre,
And Erin go brach
c
he boldly sung.
OH
! return me the rose which I gather'd for thee
When thy love like the rose was in bloom,
For neglected it withers, though given by me,
And shares with thy love the same doom.
II.
Yet so lately renew'd was thy passion's frail vow
On that rose, which so lately
was given,
That the rose's twin-buds which were wreath'd for my brow
Are still gem'd with the fresh dews of heaven.
III.
For the twin-buds thy fondness so tastefully wove
Were ne'er kiss'd by the sun's faintest
ray,
While the rose, which receiv'd the warm vow of thy love,
Lies expos'd to the varying day.
IV.
So faded, so tintless, it lives but to languish,
All its blushes, its freshness, decay'd,
And droops (hapless flow'r!) as tho' love's tender anguish
On its blushes and freshness had prey'd.
V.
Then return me the rose which I gather'd for thee,
When thy love like the rose was in bloom,
Since neglected it withers, though given by me,
And shares with thy love the same doom.
VI.
Thou return'st me the rose; yet with sighs 'tis return'd,
And the drops which its pale bosom wears,
Were they shed from thine eye? is my rose then so mourn'd,
Or but dew'd with the eve's falling tears?
VII.
'Yet speak not! that look is enough! Keep the flow'r
Since in death 'tis still precious to thee;
Since the odour that's deathless recalls the sweet hour
When the rose was presented by me.
VIII.
And wilt thou d
,a when breathing the scent of its sighs,
E'er say, with a love-ling'ring thrill,
"Thus passion deep-felt in the bosom ne'er dies,
And if faded, is odorous still?"
IX.
Oh thou wilt! and the rose which thus wither'd with thee,
From thy cares may recover its bloom,
And that love which thine eye again pledges to me
Will still share with the rose the same doom.
My memory at this moment supplies me with innumerable
poems addressed to the Rose. Among the most beautiful are, I
think, one by Anacreon
, so elegantly translated by Moore; one by
Sappho
, one by Ausonius
, one by Francisco de Biojo
(Parnasso
Espagnol), one by Camoens
, one by Bernard le Jeune
, one by
Cowper
, two by Metastasio
, one from the Persian
, and one by a
German poet (whose name has escaped recollection) beginning,
"Der fruhling wird nunbald entmeichen."
OH
why are not all those close ties
which enfold
Each human connexion like those which unite us!
Why should interest
or pride
, or feelings so cold,
Alone to sweet amity
's bondage invite us?
II.
Thou were just in that age when the soul's brightest ray
Illumines each mellowing charm of the face,
And the graces of youth still delightedly play
O'er each mind-beaming
beauty which TIME
cannot
chase.
III.
I was young, inexperienc'd, unknowing, unknown,
Wild, ardent, romantic, a stranger
to thee
;
But I'd heard worth, wit, genius, were all, all thine own;
And forgetting that thou wert a stranger
to me
.
IV.
My heart overflowing, and new to each form
Of the world, I sought thee, nor fear'd to offend
By unconscious presumption: oh sure 'twas some charm
That thus
led me to seek in a stranger
, a friend!
V.
Yes, yes, 'twas a charm of such magical force
As Reason
herself never wish'd to repel,
For it drew its sweet magic from Sympathy's source,
And Reason herself
bows to Sympathy's
spell.
VI.
Yet fearful of failing, and wishful of pleasing,
How timidly anxious
thy notice I woo'd!
But oh! thy first warm glance each wild doubt appeasing,
With courage, with fondness, my faint heart endu'd
.
VII.
No never (till mem'ry by death shall be blighted)
Can our first touching interview fade from my mind,
When thou
, all delighting, and I all
delighted,
I, more
than confiding; thou much more
than kind.
VIII.
Forgetful scarce germ'd was our friendship's young flower,
My heart o'er my lips unrestrain'd seem'd to rove,
Whilst thou
sweetly veiling thy MIND'S BRIGHTER
power,
Left me much to admire
, yet still more to love
.
IX.
Till warm'd by a kindness endearing
, as dear
,
A wild, artless, song was respir'd for thee;
'Twas a national lay!f
and oh! when shall the tear
Which was shed o'er that
song, be forgotten by me.
X.
And now since that sweet day some years have flown by,
And some golden hours of those years have been mine;
But each year as it fled never twisted one tie
,
Round my heart, like that
tie which first bound it to thine.
IF
once again thou'dst have me love,
Revive my fancy's faded beam;
Give back each vision that illum'd
My early youth's ecstatic dream. g
II.
'Tis true, not many winters' snows
Have fall'n upon my life's fresh flow'r:
But feelings that should last an AGE
,
With me, were wasted in an HOUR
.
III.
Too sanguine to be calmly blest,
The "life of life" I sought, and in it
Found many a joy my fancy drew,
But found their span, a raptur'd minute
.
IV.
Too ardent to be constant long,h
If Love's wild rose I haply gather'd,
I scarcely breathed its fragrant bloom,
When Love's wild rose grew pale
, and wither'd
.
V.
Too delicate to seek a bliss
Disrob'd of Fancy's magic veil,
Where others
but BEGIN
to love,
Love's faintest throb, I
ceas'd to feel.i
VI.
Then let me be thy tender friend,
Thy mistress since I cannot
be:
Thou'lt soon forget thou'rt not belov'd,
And I! I'm not adored by thee.
VII.
'Twill be the chastest, sweetest, tye
That round two hearts was ever twin'd;
Than friendship 'twill be warmer still,
Than passion 'twill be more refin'd.
VIII.
Each soul shall meet its kindred soul,
Each heart shall share the same sensation;
Between pure sentiment and sense
Each feeling play with sweet vibration.
IX.
And though in the Platonic scales
Some little
LOVE
should Nature
fling,
The balance Reason
would restore,
And give th' intrusive urchin wing.
If the instability which sometimes (perhaps too often) accompanies an ardent, and even a tender nature, could admit of excuse, it might find it in the elegant sophistry of Marivaux .
"Les ames tendres et delicats (says he) ont involontier le defaut de se relacher dans leur tendresse quand elles ont obtenu tonte la votre--l'envie en vous plaire, leur fournit des graces infinies qui sont delicieux pour elles; mais des quelles ont phît-- les voila desoeuvrées."
WHEN
midst an idle, senseless, crowd,
The flutt'ring insects of the day,
Thou seest thy pouting little friend
So coldly
pleas'd, so sadly
gay;
II.
Thou
know'st at least my young heart's pulse
Still gaily throbs to joy's wild measure,
And that each sense is still
alive
To every dream of youthful pleasure.
III.
Too prone
perhaps to pleasure's dreams,
Too
"thrillingly alive all o'er,"
And oh! too prone at every woe.
To "agonize at every pore."
IV.
But that sad medium, dull and chill,
Of gayless revels, heartless joys,
Wears not ecstatic pleasure
's air
To me; 'tis nought but din and noise.
V.
THOU
know'st me playful, sportive, wild,
Simple, ardent, tender, glowing;k
A glance can chill my bosom's spring,
A glance can set it warmly flowing.
VI.
Thou'st seen me midst the charming group
That forms thine own domestic heaven,
By youthful spirits (wildly gay)
To many a childish frolic driven.
VII.
But oh! the heart some
think lies still,
Resembles most my lute, whose string
Breathes not (Eolian-like) untouch'd
,
Nor vibrates to each insect's wing.
VIII.
But when the sympathetic
touch
Calls forth the magic of its wires,
How soft, how tender is the strain
Each trembling, thrilling, chord respires!
IX.
And seem'd I ever dull to thee,
Or strove I to resist the art,
With which thou oft wert wont to thrill
Each latent feeling of my heart?
X.
Oh no! for though the MANY
slight,
Thou
know'st at least my trivial
worth,
For thou (who best canst touch my heart)
Canst call its best vibrations forth.
AND
did you then so noiseless creep
As not to chase my doubtful
sleep, l
Nor scare my cheery dream away?
And did a smile so lightly play
O'er those lips, in slumbers clos'd,
When every thrilling sense repos'd?
Yes! 'twas
a cheery
dream that stole
Its vision o'er my sleepless soul.
Methought that wand'ring wild with thee
(As oft in childhood's careless glee
We fondly stray'd, to danger blind,
Our arms
, our hearts
, as closely twin'd),m
Methought we reach'd an hallow'd grove,
It seem'd the sacred haunt of Love,
Where, pointing to the orient day,
An odour-breathing structure lay;
On rosy shafts was rear'd the bower,
And many a sweet though transient
flower,
And many a bud and wreathy band,
Twin'd by Nature
's tasteful hand,
In rich luxuriance closely wed,
Form'd a sweetly simple shed,
To canopy the thoughtless brow
Of youth, in life's first ardent glow;
And as methought we loitering stray'd,
Delighted in th' Elysian shade,
We saw approach th' enchantress Youth
,
Led by Simplicity
and Truth
,
With bounding step, and careless air,
Laughing eye, and flowing hair;
Blest and blessing beyond measure,
Grasping every transient pleasure;
Pleas'd with life as with a toy,
Pursuing still the urchin joy;
At cold Caution
's precept smiling,
Time
of every care beguiling,
Till with all her jocund train
She reach'd her own delicious fane,
And around the hallow'd bower
The VIRTURES
throng'd to own her power,
And Innocence, and Peace serene,
And Confidence with candid mien,
And infant loves
, and harmless wiles
,
And frolic sports
, and rosy smiles
,
And young delights, and laughing pleasures,
Offer'd there
their tribute treasures;
And Health
, by ruddy Temp'rance
led,
Around her dearest blessings shed;
Whilst Youth
, on Hope
's fair breast reclin'd,
Her arm round Expectation
twin'd,
Blushing view'd the Graces
bland
Lead chasten'd Passion
by the hand;
And Genius
swept his lyre to prove
The soul of life was Youth
and Love
.
Oh thou! whose blessings still
are mine,
Delightful Youth! thy powers divine
Protract to life's maturer day,
And all thy "ling'ring blooms delay."
And when I pass thy golden hour,
And watch thy last declining flow'r
Fade o'er my brow, thy soul-sent blush
Change to a sickly hectic flush,
And each warm life-illumin'd ray
In my dimming eye decay;
When all
thy transient spells are flown
(Which now, alas! are all my own),
When all thy sorceries expire,
Yet still, oh! still with fond desire
Back may each with'ring spirit flee
To live in memory with thee,
To catch thy fire's reflected
beams,
And feel thy joys again in DREAMS
.
THERE
was a day when simply but to BE
,
To live, to breathe, was purest ecstasy;
Then Life
was new, and with a smiling air
Robb'd of his thorny wreath intrusive CARE
;
And o'er the drear path I was doom'd to tread
Beneath the little wand'rer'
s footsteps shed
Full many a beam of gay prismatic hue,
And many a bud from FANCY'S
bosom threw;
While the young HOURS
, in wild and frolic play,
Time
's tell-tale record, I idly flung away;
And LOVE
(but then a child) from hour
to hour
Would fondly rove, and from each fragrant flow'r
Suck'd honey'd essence n
," to imbue his dart,
And though he thrill'd
, ne'er pain'd the flutt'ring heart;
Pleasing and pleas'd; still blessing, still most
blest;
In life alone
each transport was possest:
But now, in life alone
no charms I view--
And oh! Time, Hours
, and Love
, how chang'd are you!
THE VIOLET.o FRAGMENT VIII. To her who sent me the Spring's first Violets.
OH
! say, didst thou know 'twas mine own idol flower
That my heart has just welcom'd from thee?
And, guided alone by sweet sympathy's power,
Didst thou rear it expressly
for me?
II.
Sure thou didst! and how richly it glows through the tears
That dropt o'er its beauties from heaven!
Like those which the rosed-cheek of fond woman wears
When her bosom to rapture is given.
III.
And meek, modest, and lovely, it still
seems to shun,
E'en as though it still blush'd in the vale,
Ev'ry too glaring beam of the too
ardent sun,
Ev'ry rudely breath'd sigh of the gale.
IV.
Oh! dear is the friend whom the blossom resembles,
Who as sweet, as retiring is found;
In whose
eye the warm tear of feeling oft trembles,
Who unseen, sheds her fragrance around.
V.
And thou art that friend! and thy emblem believe
Has now found in my bosom a shrine;
And ne'er did the holiest relic receive
An homage more fervent than mine.
WHILST
over each lay thou didst flatt'ringly hang,
In triumph I cried, "'Tis all mine,"
Unconscious 'twas thou
didst inspire as I sang,
And in fact that the lay
was all thine
.p
II.
Then take it--but oh! still be present the while
,
When another that lay shall respire;
For at least I have
felt 'tis the spell of thy smile
That alone can the songstress inspire.
WHAT
need'st thou
ask, or I reply?
Mere WORDS
are for the stupid many
;
I've ever thought a speaking look
The sweetest eloquence of any!
II.
Yes, thou may'st come, and at the hour
We consecrate to pensive pleasures,
When feeling, fancy, music, taste,
Profusely shed their dearest treasures.
III.
Yet come not ere the sun's last beam
Sleeps on the west wave's purpled breast,
Nor wait thee till the full-orb'd moon
Resplendent lifts her silver crest.
IV.
But steal the softer
hour between,
When Twilight
drops her mystic veil,
And brings the anxious mind's repose
,
And leaves the sensient
heart
to feel
.
V.
Yet turn not towards the flaunting bow'r
That echoes to the joyless laugh
Of GOSSIP DAMES
, nor seek the hall
Where Riot's sons her goblet quaff.
VI.
But with a stilly noiseless step
Glide to the well known fairy room,
Where fond affection
visits oft,
And never finds the heart from home.
VII.
Fear not to meet intruders there,
Thou'lt only find my harp and me,
Breathing perhaps some pensive song,
And waiting anxiously for thee.
VIII.
And I will wear the vestal robe
Thou lov'st, I know, to see me wear;
And with that sweet wreath form'd by thee
(Though faded now) I'll bind my hair,
IX.
And round my harp fresh buds I'll twine,
O'er which departing day has wept;
As wildly soft its chords I'll touch
As though a sigh
its chords had swept.
X.
And I will hum
the song
thou lov'st,
Or thou each bosom-chord shalt thrill
With thine own
soul-dissolving strain,
Or silent
q
, we'll be happier still.
XI.
Well now, thou know'st the time
, the place
,
And--but I merely meant to tell thee
That thou might'st come! yet still I write
As though some witchcraft charm befel me.
NEGLECTED
long, and wrapt in idle slumber,
Forlorn, obscure, this hapless thing I found;
Thy chords relax'd, and ev'ry tuneful number
Latent and still with thy sweet soul of sound.
II.
Not always thus didst thou abandon'd languish;
The matin hymn, the midnight serenade,
The lover's wish, the rival's jealous anguish,
Claim'd from thy tones, and found
no trivial aid.
III.
Of vanquish'd Moor, of Saracen subdued,
Of Roncevalle's
immortal feats thou'st rung,
And oft beneath the grated casement woo'd
Her
, whose bright charms thy tender master sung.
IV.
And who was he, by adverse fortune driven
Far from his native land (sad youth!) to stray,
By all abandon'd but by thee
and Heaven
,
Of all bereft but thy care-soothing lay? s
V.
Who ceaseless breath'd to thee his song of woe,
And haply o'er thy chords inanguish'd hung,
As still thy chords in sympathy would flow,
And sadder breath'd each woe he sadly sung.
VI.
Whose e'er thou wert, at least I
owe thee much,
Kind little soother of each weary hour;
Obedient ever to the faintest touch
That call'd to sympathy thy passive pow'r.
VII.
For when the star of eve unveil'd her light,
To bathe its glories in some lucid stream,
Or twilight hung upon the day's swift flight,
I've woo'd thy tones to aid my vision'd dream.
VIII.
Or when the roving moon-beam seem'd to gather
From every shutting rose its pendent dew,
And heartless joys with flaunting sun-beam wither,
Softly I hum'd my pensive song to you.t
IX.
And found thee erst responsive to my soul,
Thy fainting tones each faint breath'd note return'd,
With every sigh thy sighing accents stole,
With pathos trembled, or in sadness mourn'd.
X.
As true vibrative to the frolic lay,
To ev'ry careless touch of laughing pleasure,
As wildly playful, and as simply gay,
As madly jocund was thy sportive measure.
XI.
Oh then to NATURE'S
touch be sacred still!
To HER
I consecrate thy soothing pow'r;
Let passion, fancy, feeling
, wake the thrill
That gives to bliss each visionary hour.
COME
, Apathy, and o'er me breathe thy spell,
Whilst I devote to thee those bosom'd
treasures
Which feeling
gave, and thou shalt sound the knell
Of my departed joys and dying pleasures.
II.
For they were but illusions--senseless power!
And cheated
while they charm'd
the dazzled mind
In joy's gay wreath, in pleasure
's sweetest flower,
Nor bloom
nor odour
can thy vot'rist
find.
III.
Then come! and thou shalt be my god supreme
,
And I will worship at thy gloomy shrine;
Nor from the light of memory
shall beam
One ray
, to shew that bliss or joy were mine.
OH
thou! who late with glowing fingers wreath'd
Around my youthful brow thy blooming flow'rs,
Sweet Fancy! thou who late so warmly breath'd
Thy frolic spirit o'er my careless hours:
II.
Was it by thought
or study
thou wert banish'd?
Did care
or sorrow
chill thy vital glow?
That from so young a mind thy dreams are vanish'd,
That droops thy wild wreath round so young a brow.
III.
Why fade thy fairy visions on my view
(And every spell that cheer'd my sinking heart)?
Why change thy iris-tints
to sablest hue?
Why latent sleeps thy gay creative art?
IV.
Oh come! but come not as thou late wert wont,
With faded blush, and matted locks unbound,
Chasing my foot-steps in each dreary haunt,
And scattering rue
and deadly night-shade
round.
V.
But come with kindling blush and sunny tress,
The tear of rapture gleaming in thine eye;
Thy lip (where revel'd many a fond caress!)
Thy ruby lip, exhaling transport's sigh.
VI.
Thy glance reviving every faded flow'r,
The young loves sporting in thy frolic train,
And many a fairy JOY
and smiling hour
,
Chasing in rosy groups DESPAIR
and PAIN
.
VII.
Oh! thus
return, thou source of all my pleasures,
And though bereft
of all but HOPE
and THEE
Yet they who count as theirs exhaustless treasures,
And empires sway, perhaps
might envy ME
.
I LOVE
the warmth! the genial warmth,
That from thine heart's core seems to flow;
That lights thine eye's benignant glance,
And lends thy smile its brightest glow.
II.
I love the warmth, the tender warmth,
That animates thy artless air,
That still extends thy cordial hand,
And bids each word a welcome wear.
III.
For I (TOO
oft) am doom'd to meet
The eye whose glance MY
ardour chills,
Where still I seek that
eye of soul
Whose glance o'er every fine nerve thrills.
IV.
And still, alas! I'm doom'd to touch
Some hand more cold than wintry dew,
Where still I seek that hand's fond press
Whose pulse to mine throbs sweetly true.
V.
And oh! how oft I'm doom'd to hear
A voice that from the heart new stole,
Where still I languish for those tones
That woo
and win
the list'ning soul.
VI.
And still I'm sadly
doom'd to play
The mental gladiator
's part, u
When, weary of the strife
of wits
,
I seek an intercourse of heart
.
VII.
But thou, dear friend! didst sweetly wake
Each nerve where bosom-pleasures
slumber'd,
And warm'd to life those latent joys
Which grieving mem'ry ceaseless number'd.
VIII.
With thee too happy
to be wise
,
Yet wiser in my folly's dream w
Than, when to trim cold study's
lamp,
I quite
neglected nature's beam.
IX.
With thee! no longer sadly
sage,
Or gravely
wise, but wisely simple,
The close-knit brow appears the tomb
Of WISDOM
, and her throne
the DIMPLE
.
TO-DAY
around my HARP
I twin'd
A rose
, whose bosom veil'd a fly,
Some insect Epicure
in bliss,
Who sip'd her dews, and breath'd her sigh;
II.
Till surfeit
drove him from the feast,
And, pleasure-cloy'd
, the tiny rover
Fled his idol rose's breast,
O'er the harp's still
chords to hover.
III.
Nor seem'd unconscious of the charm
That lurk'd in every silent string,
For oft the little vagrant swept
O'er every chord his lucid wing.
IV.
While THEY
(too like the sensient soul
That vibrates to the least impression)
E'en to th' ephemeral's breathy touch
Return'd a faint, but sweet, expression.
V.
"Charm'd with the sound himself had made,"
Still flutter'd o'er the chords the minion,
And oh! it was a fairy strain
That died beneath his fairy pinion, x
VI.
Distinctly soft, and faintly true,
It scarce was fancied, scarce was caught:
Just such a sighing sound it breath'd
As I by thee one eve was taught.
VII.
Whilst thou upon my murmur'd song
Didst hang in Fancy's wildest dream,
And I, not "touch'd, but rapt
," made thee
My inspiration
and my theme
.
THE
castle lies low,y
whose towers
frown'd so high,
And the landscape is awful and bold;
The mountains around lift their heads to the sky,
And the woods many ages have told.
II.
And the world's greatest ocean
still dashes its wave
'Gainst the coast that is savagely wild:
Midst the castle's grey ruins there still yawns a cave
Where the sun's cheering light never smil'd.z
III.
And steep is the precipice, a
horrid to view,
That rears o'er the ocean its crest:
They say that no bird to its summit e'er flew, b
And its base 'neath the waves seems to rest.
IV.
And the blast that awakes on Columbia
's far shore c
Unimpeded here breathes its last sigh,
And the rocks round whose brow th' Atlantic winds roar
The spent storms of Columbia defy.
V.
Nor is there a spot midst this scene of romance
Obscur'd by oblivion
's dark veil,
Nor is there a fragment that rivets the glance
But stone charm from tradition
can steal.
VI.
For many a pilgrim has pillow'd his head
In that CELL
that now moulders away,
And many a brave chief and warrior
has bled
Near these walls d
that now fall to decay.
VII.
In that spot, by the thistle and long grass o'er-grown,
That breathes round a desolate gloom,
When the blasts through the old abbey's e
grey ruins moan,
Lies the pilgrim and warrior's tomb.
VIII.
But the little enthusiast
who boasts THEE
her friend,
And who strays midst this world of romance,
Where nature
such scenes e'en to fancy can lend
As ne'er floated on fancy's rapt glance;
IX.
Who roams midst this landscape, so awful and wild,
Who hangs on th' Atlantic's deep roar,
Who visits the cave where the sun never smil'd,
And wanders the desolate shore;
X.
Who sighs o'er the tomb
where the warrior's laid low,
Where the rough thistle waves its lone head,
Where the blasts o'er the old abbey's grey ruins flow,
And a requiem breathe over the dead;
XI.
Yes, th' enthusiast e'en here, midst these scenes drear and wild,
The gentlest of spirits
has found,
And many a bosom "ethereally mild,"
By the sweet ties of sympathy bound.
XII.
And that polish
of manner which only can flow
From the soul that is warm and refin'd,
And those heart-born
endearments which shed their soft glow
O'er the stronger
endowments of mind.
XIII.
Then, oh! tell me, dear friend, f
what has place, what has scene,
To do with the heart
or the soul
?
For like theirs, sure thine own gen'rous bosom
had been
The same 'neath the line
or the pole
.
Go, balmy zephyr, softly breathe
To her for whom these buds I wreath;
Yes, breathe the echo of my sigh
To her whose soul-seducing eye
Has look'd, I fear, MY
soul away:
But, zephyr, dare not to betray
That 'tis to her I lay my doom;
Tell her I die
--but not for whom!
SILENT
and sad, deserted and alone, g
In mem'ry drooping o'er my faded pleasures,
Each home
delight, each soul-felt comfort flown,
A little bankrupt in the heart's rich treasures.
II.
Sweet social ties, to every feeling dear!
Still round that heart's most vital fibre twining,
If I relinquish ye, 'tis with a tear,
Sadly resign'd, and tenderly repining.
III.
Home of my heart! of every wish the goal,
Where'er thy little wand'rer's doom'd to stray;
"Though Alps between us rise, and oceans roll,"
Thou'lt be the Pharos
of my devious way.
IV.
For tho' the world's fleet joys awhile deceive me,
Though dazzled by my more than meed
of fame,
Should thy
dear threshold, Home
, again receive me,
Thou'lt find my warm, my untouch'd heart the same.
V.
For if, O world! to other eyes you wear
A syren aspect! yet your vaunted treasures
Ne'er valued to my heart a single tear
,
Dropt to my simple Home's departed pleasures.
NAY
, if you threaten, all is over;
Ne'er dart that rebel
look at me!
I languish too
, to turn a rover,
So take your shackles--both
are free.
II.
No galling steel that chain composes,
Which once I fondly wove for thee;
See! it is form'd of breathing roses,
And dew'd with tears love
stole from me.
III.
But now if o'er its bloomy flushing
INDIFF'RENCE
sheds her chilling air,
And o'er each bud (still faintly blushing)
Congeals each tear that lingers there,
IV.
Why break at once the useless fetter,
Since round thy heart no more 'tis bound;
But while its roses thus you scatter,
Think not its thorns
my breast shall wound.
V.
And yet hadst thou still been that lover
,
That all I hoped to find in thee,
I ne'er had turn'd a careless rover,
I ne'er had been thus idly free.
VI.
But o'er my lip, in fondness dying,
No sigh of love e'er breath'd its soul,
Until some heart more
fondly sighing,
My
sigh into existence stole.
VII.
And if some
tender pangs I cherish'd,
From thee
I caught the pleasing anguish;
But when with
thee those sweet pangs perish'd,
I felt them
in my bosom languish.
VISIONS
of fleeting pleasure! spare, oh! spare me!
Hence! shades of many a bliss, and many a sorrow;
In vain from this cool
medium h
would ye tear me,
With joys indeed to-day--but, what to-morrow?
II.
For every blessing your possession brought me
Left in its absence still a kindred sorrow,
And tho' to-day
with many a joy you sought me,
You'd leave me, lost to every joy, to-morrow.
III.
Like this rich flow'r, which now in sweet decay
Droops on my breast its head in seeming sorrow;
For though its beauties charm each sense to-day,
My breast will only
wear its thorns
to-morrow.
SWEET
timid trembling thing, i
no more
Shalt thou beneath each rude breath sink;
Thy vestal attribute is o'er,
E'en from the softest sigh to shrink.k
II.
No more the balmy zephyr's kiss
Shall find thy chaste reluctance such
That, fading from the fragrant bliss,
Thou shun'st the balmy zephyr's touch.
III.
Proud of thy sensient pow'rs, the breast
Of Emily, with rival pride,
Thou sought'st, but drooping there, confest
That sensient pow'r surpass'd, and died.
THERE
is a mild, a solemn hour,
And oh! how soothing is its pow'r
To smile away Care's sombre low'r!
This hour I love!
It follows last the feath'ry train
That hovers round Time'
s rapid wain.
'Tis then I rove.
II.
'Tis when the day's last beam of light
Sleeps on the rude tow'r's mould'ring height,
With many an age's moss bedight,
The dreary home
Of some sad victim of despair,
Who from the world finds shelter there;
'Tis then I roam.
III.
'Tis when the west clouds faintly blush,
And his last vesper sings the thrush,
And soft mists veil gay nature's flush,
And not a ray
From the morn's cloud-embosom'd crest
Silvers the green wave's swelling breast;
'Tis then I stray.
IV.
'Tis the soft stilly dawn of night,
When many an elf and fairy sprite
Pursue the glow-worm's furtive light,
Like me fonder
Of that soft, pale, mysterious beam
Which lures wild fancy's wizard dream,
While I wander.
V.
Day cannot claim this charming hour,
Nor night subdue it to its power,
Nor sunny smiles, nor gloomy low'r,
Does it betray:
But blandly soothing, sweetly wild,
Soft silent, stilly, fragrant, mild,
It steals away.
DEAR
shade of him my heart holds more than dear,
Author of all that fond heart's purest bliss,
Dear shade, I hail thee with a rapturous tear,
And welcome thee with many a tender kiss.
II.
Beneath each mimic tint still let me find
Each dear remember'd feature, each lov'd trait,
Each emanation of that ardent mind
That lent reflection
's power, or fancy's ray.
III.
Oh yes! this brow is
his, broad, candid, fair,
That speaks the true, the guileless, honest soul;
But o'er the spotless transcript morbid Care
And Time (of late) their withering fingers stole.
IV.
And this th' expressive eye, whose glance I've woo'd,
For sure beneath that glance each task seem'd light;
Dear eye, how oft with tears of fondness dew'd
I've seen thy humid beam shine mildly bright!
V.
But, painter, far above thy wond'rous art
Were those dear lips, those lips where ever play'd
The smile benignant! where the honest heart
In undisguis'd effusions careless stray'd.
VI.
Where oft for me the fond endearment glow'd,
Slow to reprove, but ever prompt to praise;
Where oft for me the anxious counsel flow'd,
The moral precept, or amusive lays.
VII.
These shoulders too I've climb'd to steal a kiss,
These locks my infant hands have oft carest;
How oft these arms I've fill'd, and shared the bliss
With her
(to me
) the dearest
and the best!
VIII.
Yes, the twin
objects of a father
's care,
A mother's loss
we rather knew
than felt
;
Twin objects of that father's every prayer,
In whom his thoughts, his hopes, his wishes dwelt.
IX.
Then come, his second self, nor trust me more;
Thou true and lov'd resemblance, shall we part?
For till my heart's last vital thrill is o'er,
Dear shade, I'll wear thee next that beating heart.
OH
! no--I live not for the throng
Thou seest me mingle oft among,
By fashion driven.
Yet one may
snatch in this same world
Of noise and din, where one is hurl'd,
Some
glimpse of heaven!
II.
When gossip
murmurs rise around,
And all is empty shew and sound,
Or vulgar
folly,
How sweet! to give wild fancy play,
Or bend to thy dissolving sway,
Soft melancholy.m
III.
When silly beaux around one flutter,n
and silly belles gay nonsense utter,
How sweet to steal
To some lone corner (quite perdue
)
And with the dear elected few
Converse
and feel!
IV.
When forced for tasteless crowds to sing,
Or listless sweep the trembling string,
Say, when we meet
The eye whose beam alone inspires,
And wakes the warm soul's latent fires,
Is it not sweet?
V.
Yes, yes, the dearest bliss of any
Is that which midst the BLISSLESS
many
So oft we
stole:
Thou know'st 'twas midst much cold parade
And idle crowds, we each betray'd
To each
--a soul
.
THERE
is a soft and fragrant hour,
Sweet, fresh, reviving is its pow'r;
'Tis when a ray
Steals from the veil of parting night,
And by its mild prelusive light
Foretels the day.
II.
'Tis when some ling'ring stars scarce shed
O'er the mist-clad mountain's head
Their fairy beam;
Then one by one
retiring, shroud,
Dim glitt'ring through a fleecy cloud,
Their last faint gleam.
III.
'Tis when (just wak'd from transient death
By some fresh zephyr's balmy breath)
Th' unfolding rose o
Sheds on the air its rich perfume,
While every bud with deeper bloom
And beauty glows.
IV.
'Tis when fond Nature (genial power!)
Weeps o'er each drooping night-clos'd flower,
While softly fly
Those doubtful mists, that leave to view
Each glowing scene of various hue
That charms the eye.
V.
'Tis when the sea-girt turret
's brow
Receives the east
's first kindling glow,
And the dark wave,
Swelling to meet the orient gleam,
Reflects the warmly strength'ning beam
It seems to lave.
VI.
'Tis when the restless child of sorrow,
Watching the wish'd-for rising morrow,
His couch foregoes,
And seeks midst scenes so sweet, so mild,
To sooth those pangs so keen, so wild,
Of hopeless woes.
VII.
Nor day, nor night, this hour can claim,
Nor moon-light ray, nor noon-tide beam,
Does it betray;
But fresh, reviving, dewy, sweet,
It hastes the glowing hours to meet
Of rising day.
COME
, Sleep, thou transient
, but thou sure
relief,
Shed o'er my aching eyes thy soothing pow'r,
And mingle with their ceaseless tear of grief
One
drop, extracted from thy opiate flow'r.
II.
Shroud oh! sweet Sleep!
in thy oblivious veil,
Each woe that would repel thy balmy reign,
And o'er each wearied sense as softly steal
The welcome bondage of thy unfelt chain.
III.
Sooth to forgetfulness my care-worn mind,
Dispel awhile each sad prophetic fear,
And mem'ry in thy gentle thraldom bind,
And steal this sigh, and chase this starting tear;
IV.
And call the mimic
Fancy to thy aid,
With all her frolic, illusory train;
With rosy visions cheer thy vot'rist maid,
With welcome treach'ry steal her bosom's pain.
V.
Each fond affection in her heart revive,
By waking
apathy long lull'd to rest;
Once to each thrilling tone of joy alive,
Though dormant now within her joyless breast.
VI.
Thus come, delightful and delusive Sleep,
Thus o'er my wither'd spirits claim thy pow'r;
In thy sweet balm each anguish'd feeling steep;
For days of suff'ring give one
blissful hour.
I SAW
the flow'rs! and guess'd for me
The bloomy buds were cull'd by thee;
I snatch'd the flow'rs, and to my breast
Thy fragrant off'ring fondly prest;
And quite forgot the pouting fray
That gloom'd our cold adieus to-day,
Till as I closer, fonder, hung
O'er every bud, a sad doubt sprung
Within my heart, and chill'd their bloom,
And robb'd them of their rich perfume:
For oh! thy gift appear'd methought
With cruel, DOUBTFUL
, meaning fraught;
For one sweet blossom placed in view
Seem'd each delighted sense to woo,
Yet close beneath the fragrant veil
Deception
's flow'r was seen to steal.
Why didst thou send me this bouquet?
Cruel! oh! didst thou mean to say,
"These flowers, delusive girl, receive,
Like thee they charm, like thee deceive;
Alternate emblem of thy wile,
Thy obvious grace, thy hidden
guile--"
And is it so? then keep thy flow'r!
And trust me, 'tis no dewy show'r
Shed from nature's genial eye
That glitters o'er its purple dye,
But a tear, a tear that stole
From a fond but wounded soul,
The essence of a pang severe,
By thee extracted, form'd that tear;
Yet still 'tis thine, the chemic pow'r,
To change that tear, to change the flow'r:
Transmuted to a gem the tear
(Joy's precious gem!) the flow'r shall wear,
The flow'r that robb'd my heart of rest
Shall bloom an "heart's ease"
in my breast,
If thou but swear, my captious lover,
Thou ne'er didst think thy friend a rover,
And that the flow'rs were sent by thee
But as peace offerings to me
.
Is this then the passion, is this the sweet anguish?
Fondly to feel, and as fondly inspire;
My poor silly heart in its folly would languish,
And sigh, the true martyr
of love to inspire.
II.
Oh no! this is fury, 'tis rage, or 'tis madness,
It scares the mild feelings that dwell in the heart;
It wearies the senses, or sinks into sadness
The soul that in riot can ne'er take a part.
III.
Oft in the sweet dream that play'd o'er my pillow,
Or in my warm'd fancy, Love's vision would beam;
But oh! how unlike fleeting passion's wild billow
O'er each yielding sense did it tenderly stream!
IV.
Led by the graces, surrounded by pleasures
Which aim at the heart, or which flow from the soul;
Profusely endow'd with the mind's sterling treasures,
And veil'd in sweet sympathy's magical stole.
V.
Though obvious, reserved, mysterious, yet simple,
Chastely endearing, and timidly wild;
Repuls'd by a frown, recall'd by a dimple;
Placid
, though tender; though ardent, refin'd.
VI.
And couldst thou (thou maniac in passion) thus woo me,
And lay by these freaks
, less persuasive
, than fright'ning
,
And cease with this fury
of love to pursue me,
Nor always approach me--in THUNDER
and LIGHTNING
;
VII.
If my poor little heart thou wouldst win, my wild rover,
First give me of safety some positive token
;
For to tell you the truth, my too vehement lover,
My fear is, my poor little
HEAD
will be broken.
HERE
, Iris
, pr'ythee take my lyre,
No more its pathos or its fire
Shall wrap me in delusive bliss,
Its chords my flying fingers kiss,
Nor to its sweet responsive string
Her song of soul thy mistress sing,
And hang upon yon willow's bough
The myrtle wreath that twined her brow:
Thou
know'st by whom
that wreath was gather'd,
Thou seest how soon that wreath is wither'd.
Oh! quick the emblem-gift
remove;
I cannot sing, and must not
love,
Or touch the lyre
, or myrtle
wear,
Exempt from bliss, and free from care.
Henceforth flow on, my torpid hours;
Indifference!
I hail thy powers!
Come, and each keen sensation lull,
And make me languishingly dull,
While thus I offer at thy shrine
What (oh Indifference!) ne'er was thine,
The raptured sigh, the glowing tear,
The fervid hope, the anxious fear,
The blissful thrill, the anguish'd woe,
The freezing doubt, the feeling glow;
Nay, take the ling'ring wish to please,
But give
, oh! give
thy vot'rist ease
.
THY
silent wing, oh Time! hath chased away
Some feathery hours of youth's fleet frolic joy,
Since first I hung upon the simple lay,
And shared the raptures of a minstrel boy.
II.
Since first I caught the ray's reflected light
Which genius emanated o'er his soul,
Or distant
follow'd the enthusiast's flight,
Or from his fairy dreams a vision stole.
III.
His bud of life was then but in its spring,
Mine
scarce a germ
in nature's bloomy wreath;
He taught my infant muse
t' expand her wing,
I taught his youthful heart's first sigh to breathe.
IV.
In sooth he was not one of common
mould,
His fervid soul on thought
's fleet pinions borne,
Now sought its kindred heaven sublimely bold,
Now stoop'd the woes of kindred man to mourn.
V.
For in his dark
eye beams of genius shone
Through the pure crystal of a feeling tear,
And still pale Sorrow claim'd him as her own,
By the sad shade
she taught his SMILE
to wear.
VI.
Though from his birth the Muses
' matchless boy,
Though still she
taught his wild strain's melting flow,
And proudly own'd him with a mother's joy,
He
only call'd himself "the CHILD
of WOE
."
VII.
For still the world each finer transport chill'd
That stole o'er feeling's nerve or fancy's dream,
And when each pulse to Hope
's warm pressure thrill'd,
Experience
chased Hope
's illusory beam.
VIII.
Too
oft indeed, by Passion
's whirlwind driven,
Far from cold Prudence' level path to stray,
Too oft he deem'd that light "a light from heaven"
That lured him on to PLEASURE
's flow'ry way.
IX.
To bliss abandon'd; now pursued by woe;
The world's sad outcast; now the world's proud gaze;
The vine
and yew alternate wreath'd his brow,
The soldier
's laurel, and the poet's bays.
X.
Example's baleful force, temptation's wile,
Guided the wand'rings of his pilgrim years;
Fancy
's warm child, deceiv'd by Fortune
's smile,
That steep'd th' expecting glance in mis'ry's tears.
XI.
The sport of destiny, "Creation's heir,"
From realm to realm, from clime to clime he rov'd,
Check'd by no guardian tie, no parent
care,
For oh! a parent's love his heart ne'er prov'd.
XII.
Yet vain did Absence wave the oblivious wand
One spark
still glim'ring in his breast to chill,
Illum'd by Sympathy's unerring hand,
That still awaked his lyre's responsive
thrill.
XIII.
Though o'er eternity's unbounded space
The knell
of many a fleeting year had toll'd,
And weeping mem'ry many a change could trace
That made affection's vital stream run cold;
XIV.
Yet still those laws immutable
and true
To nature's void, attraction
's sacred laws,
Each spirit
to its kindred spirit drew
,
Of sweet effects
, the fond and final cause
.
XV.
But oh! when cherish'd Hope
reposed its soul
Upon a new-born certainty
of joy,
Death
from the arms of pending pleasures stole,
And years
of promis'd bliss, the Minstrel Boy
.
HOW
! Love
, thus wrapt in soft repose;
Ah! whence didst thou thy model borrow,
Or Love, with waking
transport glows,
Or restless weeps, a waking
sorrow?
II.
Perhaps thou'st borrow'd from thyself,
For in thine heart
, they say, Love sleeps;
While in thine eye
some swear the elf
An everlasting vigil keeps.
III.
Oh! where, my charming artist
, lies
The mystic secret of thy art?
To keep Love
waking in the eyes
And guard him sleeping in the heart!
OH
! should I fly from the world, Love, to thee,
Would solitude render me dearer?
Would our flight from the world draw thee closer to me,
Or render thy passion sincerer?
Would the heart thou hast touch'd more tumult'ously beat
Than when its wild pulse fear'd detection?
Would the bliss unrestrain'd be more poignantly sweet
Than the bliss snatch'd by timid affection?
II.
Though silence and solitude breathed all around,
And each cold law of prudence was banish'd,
Though each wish of the heart and the fancy was crown'd,
We should sigh for those hours that are vanish'd.
When in secret we suffer'd, in secret were blest,
Lest the many should censure our union;
And an age of restraint, when oppos'd and opprest,
Was repaid by a moment's communion.
III.
When virtue's pure tear dew'd our love's kindling beam
It hallow'd the bliss it repented;
When a penitent sigh breath'd o'er passion's wild dream
It absolv'd half the fault it lamented:
And how thrillingly sweet was each pleasure we stole,
In spite of each prudent restriction,
When the soul unrestrain'd met its warm kindred soul,
And we laugh'd
at the world's interdiction!
IV.
Then fly, oh my love! to the world back with me,
Since the bliss it denies it enhances,
Since dearest the transient delight shar'd with thee,
Which is snatch'd from the world's prying glances:
Nor talk thus of death till the warm thrill of love
From each languid breast is retreating;
Then may the life pulse of each heart cease to move
When love's vital throb has ceas'd beating.
SNOWY
gem of the earth! whose fair modest head
Droops beneath the chill sigh of hoar winter
's cold breath;
Snowy gem of the earth! on thy pure sunless bed
I carelessly nearly had crush'd thee to death.
II.
And indeed I have
torn thee, thou sweet snowy gem!
From the young kindred tendrils thou lov'st to entwine;
Nay, I've sever'd thee quite
from thy fair parent stem,
That droops in reluctance thy charms to resign.
III.
Yet it is from a drear fate, sweet blossom, I snatch thee,
Thy meek prostrate head to each rude foot a prey,
And now in a clime far more genial I'll watch thee,
And retard thy frail beauties' too rapid decay.
IV.
For instead of the sighs of the icicled hours
,
I'll breathe o'er those beauties a sigh of the heart,
And its glow may restore thee, thou sweetest of flow'rs,
And some warmth to thy icy-chill'd bosom impart.
V.
And where the froze dew-drop once gem'd thy fair brow,
That fair brow a dew-drop more precious shall wear;
Such a drop as the mild eyes of Pity bestow,
When she sheds o'er the pale brow of SORROW
her
TEAR
.
VI.
For I too have suffer'd! I too have been parted
From a sweet kindred
blossom, a dear parent stem
,
And each nerve from the breath of oppression has smarted,
As the sharp sigh of winter
chill'd thee, snowy gem.
VII.
Yet like thee
, no kind heart to its bosom e'er press'd me,
Nor beam'd o'er my suff'rings a pitying eye,
With care-soothing tenderness fondly caress'd me,
And repaid all my woes with a tear
and a sigh
.
THOU
! whom unknown, my suff'ring heart implor'd
To fling thy spell athwart the anguish'd hour,
Spirit of Apathy! unfelt ador'd
,
Oh! now
I feel, now deprecate
thy pow'r.
II.
This once too
sensate, tender, glowing heart,
I thought could never
own THY
chilling sway;
Where fester'd late the wound of Sorrow's dart,
Where lately beam'd, oh Joy! thy
transient ray.
III.
Suspense in all its torturing forms I've known,
And many a tender, many an anxious fear;
And on my lip has died the stifled
groan,
And in mine eye has swam the silent tear
.
IV.
And I have known sweet Friendship's soothing hour,
Perhaps have felt Love's first-born pure
delight;
And I have worship'd Fancy's
magic pow'r,
And (fond enthusiast!) dared her wildest flight.
V.
But now! no raptur'd moment, no soft woe,
Can sublimate the soul or touch the heart;
No more the solemn "joys of grief"
bestow,
Or pensive bliss, or gracious pangs impart.
VI.
Stagnate each feeling, frozen every sense,
Each fairy thought enrob'd in Languor
's stole;
No visionary joy can now dispense,
Or with "an airy nothing"
cheer the SOUL
.
OLD
Scotia
's jocund Highland Reel
Might make an hermit play the deel!
So full of gig!
Famed for its Cotillions
gay France
is;
But e'en give me the dance
of dances
,
An Irish jig.
II.
The slow Pas Grave
, the brisk Coupée
,
The Rigadoon, the light Chassée,
Devoid of gig,
I little prize; or Saraband
Of Spain; or German Allemande:
Give me a jig!q
III.
When once the frolic jig's begun,r
Then hey! for spirit, life, and fun!
And with some gig,
Trust me, I too can play my part,
And dance with
all my little heart
The Irish jig.
IV.
Now through the mazy figure flying,
With some (less active) partner vying,
And full of gig;
Now warm with exercise and pleasure,
Each pulse beats wildly to the measure
Of the gay jig!
V.
New honours to the saint be given s
Who taught us first to dance
to heaven!
I'm sure of gig,
And laugh
and fun
, his soul was made,
And that he often danced and play'd
An Irish jig.
VI.
I think 'tis somewhere clearly proved
That some great royal prophet loved
A little gig;
And though with warrior fire he glow'd,
The prowess of his heel
he shew'd
In many a jig!
VII.
Nay, somewhere too I know they tell
How a fair maiden danced so well,
With so much gig,
That (I can scarce believe the thing)
She won a saint's head
from a king
For one short jig!
VIII.
But I (so little
my ambition)
Will fairly own, in meek submission,
(And with some gig)
That for no HOLY
head I burn;
One poor LAY
heart would serve MY
turn
For well danced jig.
IX.
Since then we know from "truths divine,"
That saints
and patriarchs
did incline
To fun
and gig
,
Why let us laugh
and dance
for ever,
And still support with best endeavour
THE
IRISH
JIG
.
THE
quill that now traces the thought of my heart,
And speeds the soft wand'rer to thine,
From the pinion of love, by thy hand's erring dart,
Was sever'd, and then became mine. t
II.
"Preserve it," thou saidst, "for it shatter'd the breast
Which once glow'd with love's purest fire;
And it fell as the mistress
and mother
caress'd
In love's transport, the offspring and sire."
III.
When thou toldst me the tale, and I wept o'er the quill,
Where already thy tear had been shed;
"And oh!" I exclaim'd, "may its point ever thrill
O'er the nerve where soft pity is bred.
"From that point may the fanciful sorrow still flow
Which, though
fancied, ne'er misses the heart;
Be it
sacred alone to the delicate woe
Which genius
and feeling
impart."
V.
But little I dream'd the first trace it imprest
With a sorrow not
fancied should flow,
And that, that real
sorrow should spring from my
heart,
And that thou
shouldst awaken that woe.
VI.
For they tell me, alone and unfriended thou'rt left
On the pillow of sickness to languish;
By absence, by fate, of the fond friend bereft
Who could feel
for, and solace
, thy anguish.
VII.
May this quill then convey one
fond truth to thy heart,
And its languid pulsation elate;
That still in each suff'ring that friend
takes a part,
And shares
, as she mourns
for thy fate.
VIII.
When fancy thou viewest that tear of the soul
Which thy destiny draws to her eye,
And believe that no sigh from thy
bosom e'er stole
But she gave thee as heart-felt
a sigh.
IX.
For sweet is the solace that lurks in the tear
Which flows from the eye that we love;
And what is the suff'ring, oh! what is the care
That sympathy
cannot remove?
X.
Oh! then speed thy return, and thy sweet cure receive,
Which affection
and friendship
present,
From her who by pity
was taught to forgive,
And who feels
, where she ought to resent
.u
"JOY
a fix'd state--a tenure, not a start!"
Whence came that thought, sublime and pensive sage?
Did Joy e'er play upon thy grief-chill'd heart,
Or flash its warm beam o'er the life's sad page?
II.
And felt'st thou not 'twas but a start
indeed,
A rainbow
lustre o'er the clouds of care;
Of many an anxious hope the golden meed,
The bright, tho' transient heaven
of despair?
III.
Oh Joy, I
know thee well! and in that hour
Which gave me to the dearest father's arms,
(Arms long unfill'd by me) have felt thy pow'r
Sweetly dispelling absence' fond alarms.
IV.
And I have felt thy evanescent gleam
Illume the vision youthful fancy
brought;
Have known thee in my slumbers' rosy dream
Give many a bliss I (waking
) vainly sought.
V.
From thee what sweet truths would cold REASON
borrow,
Whilst thou (tumultuous in thy reign) would chase
Each gloomy phantom of my bosom's sorrow,
And send thy sunny spirits in their place.
VI.
Wild, warm, and tender, was thy witching hour,
Delight
's wild throb, and rapture's tear was thine,
And every feeling
own'd thy melting pow'r;
Oh! such at least
thou wert, when thou wert mine.
VII.
Transient indeed, as young spring's iris sky
,
And ever fleetest in thy dearest bliss;
Chas'd by a doubt, a frown, a tear, a sigh;
Lured by a glance, a thought, a smile, a kiss.
VIII.
Yet though so fleeting in thy poignant pleasure,
Though thy brief span is scarce a raptured hour,
Though still least
palpable thy richest
treasure,
Though as we cull
, still fades
thy sweetest
flow'r;
IX.
Yet come! delicious Joy! ere yet the chill
Of age repels thy influence o'er my heart,
While yet each sense responsive meets thy thrill,
Oh come! delicious Joy! all transient
as thou art!
By the first sigh that o'er thy lip did hover,
And sweetly breath'd a secret sweeter still;
By thy reproachful glance, thou mock reprover!
The speechless transport, and the vaunted thrill:
II.
By thy assumed despair and fancied sorrow,
The sudden languor, and the transient glow;
By all those wiles thou know'st from love to borrow,
The timid doubt
, the counterfeited woe:
III.
By the soft murmurs of thy flatt'ring tongue,
By all thy looks have told, or smiles exprest,
By all thou'st sworn, or wrote, or said, or sung,
By all the arts thou aimest at my breast:
IV.
By the feign'd tear of love (delusive trembler!)
Thou know'st to conjure to thy dang'rous eye,
And by that dang'rous eye, thou arch dissembler,
I still am free, and Love
and thee
defy!
V.
For not a faultless form or perfect face,
Or studied arts
, can win a soul like mine;
It must be more than mere external grace,
It must be more than ever can be thine
. x
VI.
Why (though thy tender vow exalt another
)
May not my
rapt imagination rove
Beyond the solemn softness of a brother,
And live in fancy on thy looks of love?
VII.
Ah! surely of celestial growth the flowers
That bloom'd so brightly o'er our early scene;
For tho' that sunny scene was dash'd with showers,
How glorious was each glitt'ring space between!
VIII.
Young Innocence, array'd in guiltless blushes,
Would then preside o'er each delightful prank;
Wild Laughter wreath her mimic crown of rushes,
And pluck her jewels from the lilied bank.
IX.
Now sterner cares impel of big ambition,
The glare of beauty, and the din of praise;
And nature quite disown'd, that playful vision
Is but the vision of departed days.
X.
Mid the mad waves of life's inconstant ocean
My
solitary skiff shall vent'rous steer,
And mem'ry, smiling at the dread commotion,
Paint on each cloud affection's harbour near.
XI.
Thy
gilded bark o'er the glad billows bounding,
Ætesian gales shall smoothly bear along,
And sighing crowds its charming freight surrounding,
Salute thy splendid progress with a song.
XII.
While thou dost to the choral flatt'ry listen,
More gently soothed by melancholy bliss,
Perchance thy meek averted eye may glisten
O'er some neglected strain--sincere as this.
HITHER
, Love, thy wild wing bend,
Or on thy mother's dove descend;
Or let some breeze thy light form bear,
Or mount some "courser of the air;"
Or float thee on a lover's sigh,
But hither, Love
, oh! hither fly:
And come while yet the wish is warm,
To portrait true, thy changeful form;
Yes, come, with all thy magic arts,
"Quips, cranks, and smiles," bows, arrows, darts;
Approach thee cap-a-pee
in arms
,
Muster ten thousand
strong in charms;
Then (if thou canst) repose thy pinion,
And give me one
good sitting
, minion.
Shake not at me those golden locks,
Thy pow'r my dauntless spirit mocks;
Nay, think not by that look to bind me;
I'll paint thee, rascal, as I find thee.
Yes, thou shalt have a seraph's face,
A childish air, an infant grace,
A bashful blush, a movement shy,
A timid glance, a downcast eye,
A frolic gait, a playful mien,
A cherub's smile, a brow serene;
Such is thy outward
form, I know;
"But that within, which passeth shew,"
And thou wouldst slily keep perdû,
I'll paint in colours strong
and true
.
So now have at thee
, trait'rous boy!
Thou bitter sweet
, thou painful joy;
Thou thing compos'd of contradictions,
Of blessings and of maledictions,
Of vivid hopes, of sombre doubts,
Of sports and joys, of frowns and pouts,
Of gay delight, of anxious care,
Of thrilling bliss, of wild despair,
Of confidence, of dark suspicion,
Of tyranny, of meek submission,
Of sympathy, of jealous fire,
Of tenderness, of wrathful ire,
Of certainties, of mad'ning fears,
Of melting smiles, of treach'rous tears,
Of vestal blush, of roguish eye,
Of speaking look, of stifled sigh,
Of present joy, of future woe,
Of chill disdain, of genial glow,
Of simple air, of practis'd guile,
Of candid words, of hidden wile;
Thou imp, thou seraph, z
good or evil,
Thou ofttimes angel, ofttimes devil;
Thou all on earth we most should fear,
Thou all on earth we hold most dear;
Whom now we trust
, whom now we doubt
,
Whom none can live with
, nor without
,
Thou woe, fear, grief, thou bliss, hope, joy,
Thou--oh! thou too
delightful boy!
Go, go, I dare not longer gaze,
For well I know thy wily ways,
And that while I with critic stricture
Thus coldly finish off thy picture,
Thou haply point'st thy keenest dart
At the simple painter
's heart.
AND
must I, ghastly guest of this dark dwelling,
Pale senseless tenant! must I come to this?
And must this heart congeal, now warmly swelling
To woe's soft languor, rapture's melting bliss?
II.
And must this pulse that beats to joy's gay measure,
(Throbbing with bloomy health!) this pulse lie still,
And every sense alive to guileless pleasure
Resist, oh transport! thy warm vital thrill?
III.
And must each sensient feeling too decay,
(Each feeling anguish'd by another's sorrow)
This form, that blushes youth and health to-day,
Lie cold and senseless thus like thee to-morrow?
IV.
Terrific death! to shun thy dreaded pow'r,
Who would not brave existence' direst strife,
But that beyond thy dark shade's gloomy low'r
Faith
points her vista to eternal life!
NYMPH
of the mountain! blithsome maid,
Whose bloom no midnight revels
fade;
That breath'st the grey dawn's scented air,
And with its dew-pearls
deck'st thy hair;
Thy brow with Alpine myrtle crown'd,
Thy waist with deathless aloes bound,
Thy lip with wild-bees
' nectar dew'd,
Thine eye with rapture's tear imbued,
Thy cheek imbrown'd, and rosed with blushes
Warm as the rich carnation flushes,
Thy step of devious frolic measure,
And all around thee breathing pleasure;
Thou dearest gift of bounteous Heaven,
To its most favour'd object given,
Source of the richest joys the heart
Can feel, or senses can impart,
Enchantress Health! what offering, say,
What tribute can thy vot'rist pay,
While now, delicious nymph, you shed
Your richest blessings o'er her head?
This smile is thine, this laughing eye,
This form suffused with thy warm dye,
These rising spirits gay, yet even,
By thee alone, oh Health! were given,
That point each hope, and sooth each care,
And gaily mock the fiend Despair
,
That smile away the frowns of life,
Exalt each bliss, and calm each strife;
With whom, and thee
, each circling year
Has swiftly flown, while every tear
Which woe shed o'er my fervid cheek
You fondly chased, and bade me seek
In motives pure, and guileless mind,
For every woe
a balm
to find.
Led by thy hand my feather'd hours
,
Enwreath'd with fancy's
blooming flow'rs,
Time's progress check'd with frolic play,
And "gaily trifled life away
;"
Reviv'd the chaplet on my brow,
Unchill'd indeed
by age's snow,
But where each bud
my hopes
had gather'd
By disappointment
's blast was wither'd,
And hush'd the song of syren ease,
And wak'd each latent wish to please,
And many a harmless joy bestow'd
Which from no source but thine e'er flow'd;
Yet oh! for all thou'st done for me
I've nothing, Health, to offer thee,
For all thy joys and all thy blisses,
But such--an idle song as this is
.
RETURN
, ye fairy dreams of promis'd joy,
My youthful fancy's flatt'ring pencil drew,
Nor suffer time your visions to destroy,
Nor strike the bright tints from my raptur'd view.
II.
Again, oh Hope
! thy glowing prospects spread,
Restore thy scenes so distant and so fair;
Oh! be each thought by thee, sweet syren, led,
And drown in fancied
bliss each real
care.
III.
For what can "flat reality"
bestow,
E'en when, illum'd by fortune's brightest beam,
To compensate those joys that sweetly flow
From youthful HOPE
, and youthful fancy
's dream?
FAIRER
than Alpine sunless snows
Wert thou, in thy primæval hour,
Eternal odour-breathing rose!
Queen of every lovely flow'r;
II.
Till, upon a festive day,
When the Loves
with Hymen
sported,
Revel'd wild in antic play,
And the brimming goblet courted,
III.
An urchin wilder
than the rest
Tript in many a mazy ringlet,
The luscious grape insatiate prest,
And shook fresh odours from his winglet.
IV.
While the bowl of nectar'd dews
Trembles in his nerveless clasp,
Thy modest form (sweet rose!) he views,
And reels, thy fragrant charms to grasp.
V.
But reeling, spills the crimson tide
Which o'er thy tintless
bosom flows;
And now that bosom's snowy pride
With love's own colouring warmly glows.
WHAT
form celestial greets my sight,
In such a panoply
of light,
Whose robes of air so brightly flow,
Like sun-ting'd show'rs of feather'd snow?
Ah! 'tis the lovely queen of blisses,
Of melting sighs, and tender kisses!
She hither bends to shed her roses
Over the couch
where Love
reposes,
Softly lull'd on Hymen
's breast,
His suff'rings hush'd, his cares at rest.
And whence that group, that elfin bevy,
That crowd the Hymeneal levy?
With antic sport and frolic leer,
What brings the urchin rabble here?
Ah! these are Venus
' rosy boys,
Her tiny sports
, and roguish joys
;
These cunning loves
and laughing wiles
Are thy sly brood, arch queen of smiles!
See how their shafts they idly shiver,
And empty every golden quiver,
And break their bows in idle play,
And fling their pointless darts away;
For every dart has done its duty,
And conquer'd in the cause of beauty.
But whose soft sigh now meets my ear?
Whence is the melting plaint I hear?
Who comes, so like a drooping flow'r,
Whose fair head bends beneath the show'r
That sheds its tear from zephyr's wing,
And weeps amidst the smiles of spring?
It is the Bride! but say why flow
From eyes of bliss the dews of woe?
And art thou then so wondrous simple?
And seest thou not the roguish dimple
That lurks in either cheek so fair,
And mocks the tear that glitters there?
And know'st thou not these wiles but prove
The policy
of timid
love?
GAY
soul of every piquante charm
That can the torpid senses warm,
Mistress of the Non sa che
Toute ensemble
, sweet Naivité!
Darting from thy unfixed eye
The pointed glance of meaning sly,
Flinging round with comic air
The shaft that wounds cold "wrinkled
care;"
Thy brow with many a feather crown'd,
In many a different climate found,
Thy robe of every rainbow hue,
As bright, as gay, as changeful too;
Thy girdle by the graces
wove,
And breath'd on by the queen
of love;
Or gay or grave, still sure to please
With novel airs and playful ease;
Before th' enchantment of thine eye
Dull beauty's fair disciples fly;
Man worshipping variety,
Finds all its magic charms in thee.
And I invoke thee, winning maid!
When the spell of youth shall fade,
To touch the alter'd form and face
With thine own bewitching grace;
When time shall pale my life's fresh flow'r,
Oh give me then thy bizarre pow'r!
Let me, oh WHIM
! thy cestus wear,
And make the stupid many
stare,
With gay caprice, and outré thought,
The petit pointe
, the pun unsought,
The bon trovaté
, tour d'expression
,
And all
that's in thine own possession;
Thus, thus the pow'r of age disarming,
Thus ever changing, ever charming.
Go, mind-created phantom, go,
Hence, flatt'rer
, wander,
Lest of thee, my bosom's foe,
I still grow fonder.
II.
Thou viewless soother, hence away,
I'll ne'er believe thee;
For, deck'd in fancy's glowing ray,
Thou'dst still deceive me.
III.
Yet should I free thee much I fear
Thou'dst idly rove,
And thy course, arch betrayer, steer
To him you love.
IV.
And if by him, incautious rover,
As mine thou'rt known,
Each bosom secret thou'dst discover:
I'd guard my own.
V.
Let go! and shouldst thou near his breast
Still haply view
Thy mistress still its idol guest
,
There rest thee
too.
VI.
For then each doubting, hoping
thrill
Awak'd by thee
,
The sweetest certainty shall still
To rest for me
.
CHILD
of a sun-beam, airy minion,
Whither points thy flutt'ring pinion?
Pinion dipt in rainbow hues,
Pinion gem'd with sparkling dews
Shed from many a weeping flower,
Bathed in matin
's rosy shower;
Tell me why thy form so bland
Still eludes my eager hand?
Tell me, wanton, wouldst thou be
Madly wild, and wildly free?
If freedom is thy life's best treasure,
Then get thee hence, gay child of pleasure,
From feudal tow'r and cloistral cell,
For freedom there did never dwell;
And I no more thy form will woo,
But pleas'd thy varied flight pursue;
And now upon a zephyr's sigh
Thou seem'st in languid trance to die,
Now flutt'ring wild, thy golden winglet
Sports in many a wanton ringlet,
Or soar'st to drink the sun's first gleam,
Or bask thee in the infant beam;
Then panting in thy heaven-snatcht glow,
I feel thee flutt'ring o'er my brow,
Whence thy breezy plumage chases
Each tear the hand of sorrow traces,
Or, as athwart my lip you fly,
Fan away the woe-born sigh,
Tear of sorrow b
, sigh of woe,
Early taught by fate to flow,
From an heart a stranger still
To nature's dearest, sweetest thrill;
Tear of sorrow, sigh of woe,
Ne'er given thee, happy thing, to know;
Thee, whose life a raptured minute
Bears an age of blisses in it;
Thee, whose life a minute's measure,
Dawns, exists, and fades in pleasure.
Oh! insect of the painted wing,
I've watch'd thee from the morning's spring,
As idly lapt in soft repose
Midst the blushes of the rose,
The playful zephyr's balmy breath
Has wak'd thee from thy transient death,
Or the bee
in tuneful numbers
Put to flight thy fragrant slumbers;
And as thy wings of varied hue
(Dipt in rose-embosom'd dew)
You flutt'ring imp and deftly try,
Still I follow, still you fly
Midst the lavish charms of Nature,
Thou her freest, gayest creature;
Now the vi'let's balmy sigh,
Now the tulip's changeful dye,
Now the rose's orient glow,
Now the lily's tintless snow,
Woo and win thy brief caress,
Alternate pall, alternate bless,
Till the summer's glow is o'er,
Till her beauties bloom no more,
Then the flow'r whose fragrant sigh
Survives her warmly blushing dye,
Lures thee to an heaven of rest
On her pale but od'rous breast,
And amidst her balmy treasures
Thou diest in th' excess of pleasures.
Oh happy careless thing! could I
But live like thee, but like thee die,
Like thee resign my fleeting breath,
My life of bliss, in blissful death,
I'd envy not th' extended span,
The patriarchal day of man.
For him let time's protracting pow'rs
Still spare existence
' drooping flow'rs,
And wreaths of joyless years entwine,
But oh! one
raptured hour be mine.
As Love's delightful mother prest
The sportive urchin to her breast,
And he, like other idle boys,
Play'd with her trinkets and her toys,
Unbound her tresses, scar'd her doves
,
Or teaz'd his younger brother loves
;
"Come, tell me," cries the queen of charms,
"Why hast thou never turn'd thine arms
Against the sage Minerva
's heart?
Does she
defy thy potent art?"
"'Tis true," abash'd her son replies,
"A single glance from wisdom's eyes
Can all my best resolves destroy,
And quite repels thy daring boy,
As often as he strives to plunder
The heart of that same vestal wonder
;
And sure the snakes that twine her crest,
The gorgon head that shields her breast,
Might well an infant soul dismay,
And chase a timid child away.
One night, with luscious nectar warm,
(I swear ne'er dreaming ought of harm)
I strove in frolic play to scorch
Her owl
's grey pinion with my torch,
And then (as though I did not fear her)
Flash'd my little flambeau near her;
When turning round, (her eyes on fire)
'I swear,' she cried, 'by Jove my sire,
If thus again you venture near me,
To pieces, urchin, will I tear thee;
Dare but a single step advance,
I'll pierce thee, mischief! with my lance;
Raise but thy bow, and strait from heaven
To Tartarus
shalt thou be driven.'
I took the hint, and from that hour
Ne'er threw myself in wisdom's pow'r."
"Well, if Minerva's gorgon head
Awakes my timid Cupid's dread
More than the thunder-bolt of Jove,
Say, do the Muses
frighten Love?"
"Oh no, mamma!" replies the elf,
"I love the Muses
next thyself;
E'en I revere, with all my folly,
Their sweet voluptuous melancholy,
And oft I steal their groves among
To catch, unseen
, their pensive song!"
Th' experienced mother archly smiles,
And cries, "Alas! with all thy wiles,
Thou'rt still a child; for where can Love
Unseen repose, unthought of, rove?
Thy faintest sigh that scents the air
Would still thy vicinage declare;
And when thou steal'st their groves among,
Well may the Muses' pensive song
Breathe the soul of melody,
Still sweetest breathed when breathed for thee;
For sure the song the soul holds dearest
Is sweetest
breathed when Love is nearest
."
T. Bensley Printer,
Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London.
