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But soon his rhetoric forsook him,
When he the solemn hall had seen;
A sudden fit of ague shook him,

He stood as mute as poor Macleane.

Yet something he was heard to mutter, "How in the park beneath an old tree, (Without design to hurt the butter, Or any malice to the poultry,)

"He once or twice had penned a sonnet;
Yet hoped that he might save his bacon:
Numbers would give their oaths upon it,
He ne'er was for a conjurer taken."

The ghostly prudes with hagged face
Already had condemned the sinner.
My lady rose, and with a grace-

She smiled, and bid him come to dinner.

"Jesu-Maria! Madam Bridget,

Why, what can the Viscountess mean?” (Cried the square-hoods in woful fidget) "The times are altered quite and clean!

“Decorum 's turned to mere civility;
Her air and all her manners show it.
Commend me to her affability!
Speak to a commoner and poet!

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And so God save our noble king,

And guard us from long-winded lubbers,

That to eternity would sing,

And keep my Lady from her rubbers.

POSTHUMOUS POEMS AND

FRAGMENTS.

ODE ON THE PLEASURE ARISING FROM VICISSITUDE.

Now the golden Morn aloft

Waves her dew-bespangled wing,
With vermeil cheek and whisper soft
She wooes the tardy Spring:
Till April starts, and calls around
The sleeping fragrance from the ground;
And lightly o'er the living scene
Scatters his freshest, tenderest green.

New-born flocks, in rustic dance,
Frisking ply their feeble feet;
Forgetful of their wintry trance,

The birds his presence greet:
But chief, the sky-lark warbles high
His trembling thrilling ecstasy ;

And, lessening from the dazzled sight,

Melts into air and liquid light.

Rise, my soul! on wings of fire,

Rise the rapturous choir among;

Hark! 't is Nature strikes the lyre,
And leads the general song:
Warm let the lyric transport flow,
Warm as the ray that bids it glow;
And animates the vernal grove
With health, with harmony, and love.'

Yesterday the sullen year

Saw the snowy whirlwind fly;
Mute was the music of the air,
The herd stood drooping by ;
Their raptures now that wildly flow,
No yesterday nor morrow know;
'T is Man alone that joy descries
With forward and reverted eyes.

Smiles on past Misfortune's brow

Soft Reflection's hand can trace And o'er the cheek of Sorrow throw A melancholy grace;

While Hope prolongs our happier hour,
Or deepest shades, that dimly lower
And blacken round our weary way,
Gilds with a gleam of distant day.

Still, where rosy Pleasure leads,
See a kindred Grief pursue;
Behind the steps that Misery treads,
Approaching Comfort view :
The hues of bliss more brightly glow,
Chastised by sabler tints of woe;
And blended form, with artful strife,
The strength and harmony of life.

See the wretch, that long has tost
On the thorny bed of pain,
At length repair his vigor lost,
And breathe and walk again :
The meanest floweret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common sun, the air, the skies,
To him are opening paradise.

Humble Quiet builds her cell,

Near the source whence pleasure flows; She eyes the clear crystalline well, And tastes it as it goes.

'While' far below the 'madding' crowd 'Rush headlong to the dangerous flood,' Where broad and turbulent it sweeps, 'And' perish in the boundless deeps.

Mark where Indolence and Pride, 'Soothed by Flattery's tinkling sound,' Go, softly rolling, side by side,

Their dull but daily round :

'To these, if Hebe's self should bring
The purest cup from Pleasure's spring,
Say, can they taste the flavor high
Of sober, simple, genuine Joy?

'Mark Ambition's march sublime

Up to Power's meridian height;
While pale-eyed Envy sees him climb,
And sickens at the sight.

Phantoms of danger, death, and dread,
Float hourly round Ambition's head;
While Spleen, within his rival's breast,
Sits brooding on her scorpion nest.

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From the pangs of passion free,

That breathes the keen yet wholesome air

Of rugged penury.

He, when his morning task is done,
Can slumber in the noontide sun;
And hie him home, at evening's close,
To sweet repast, and calm repose.

'He, unconscious whence the bliss,
Feels, and owns in carols rude,
That all the circling joys are his,
Of dear Vicissitude.

From toil he wins his spirits light,
From busy day the peaceful night;
Rich, from the very want of wealth,

In Heaven's best treasures, peace and health.'

TRANSLATION OF A PASSAGE FROM STATIUS.

THEB. LIB. VI.

THEN thus the King:

Adrastus:

Whoe'er the quoit can wield,

And furthest send its weight athwart the field,
Let him stand forth his brawny arm to boast.
Swift at the word, from out the gazing host,
Young Pterelas with strength unequal drew,
Laboring, the disc, and to small distance threw.
The band around admire the mighty mass,
A slippery weight, and formed of polished brass.

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