Yet shall not these one hope destroy, A Father's heart is thine, my Boy!

Why, let the world unfeeling frown,
Must I fond Nature's claim disown?
Ah, no though moralists reprove,
I hail thee, dearest child of love,
Fair cherub, pledge of youth and joy
A Father guards thy birth, my Boy!

Oh, 't will be sweet in thee to trace,
Ere age has wrinkled o'er my face,
Ere half my glass of life is run,
At once a brother and a son;
And all my wane of years employ
In justice done to thee, my Boy!

Although so young thy heedless sire,
Youth will not damp parental fire;
And, wert thou still less dear to me,
While Helen's form revives in thee,
The breast, which beat to former joy,
Will ne'er desert its pledge, my Boy!
1807. [First published, 1830.]

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[First published in the Edition of 1898 from a manuscript in the possession of the Earl of Lovelace.]

BREEZE of the night in gentler sighs

More softly murmur o'er the pillow; For Slumber seals my Fanny's eyes,

And Peace must never shun her pillow.

Or breathe those sweet Eolian strains

Stolen from celestial spheres above, To charm her ear while some remains,

And soothe her soul to dreams of love.

But Breeze of night again forbear,
In softest murmurs only sigh;
Let not a Zephyr's pinion dare

To lift those auburn locks on high.

Chill is thy Breath thou breeze of night!
Oh! ruffle not those lids of Snow;

For only Morning's cheering light
May wake the beam that lurks below.

Blest be that lip and azure eye!

Sweet Fanny, hallow'd be thy Sleep! Those lips shall never vent a sigh, Those eyes may never wake to weep. February 23, 1808.