In sleep he seem'd to view
A rat fast clinging to the cage,
And, screaming at the sad presage

Awoke, and found it true.
For, aided both by ear and scent,
Right to his mark the monster we

Ah, Muse! forbear to speak
Minute the horrors that ensued;
His teeth were strong, the cage wa

He left poor Bully's beak.
O had he made that too his prey!
That beak, whence issued many a

Of such mellifluous tone,
Might have repaid him well, I wot
For silencing so sweet a throat,

Fast stuck within his own.
Maria weeps the Muses mourn-
So when, by Bacchanalians torn,

On Thracian Hebrus' side
The tree-enchanter, Orpheus, fell,
His head alone remain'd to tell

The cruel death he died.

THE ROSE.

The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd

Which Mary to Anna convey'd, The plentiful moisture encumber'd the

And weigh'd down its beautiful head The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves

And it seem'd, to a fanciful view, To weep for the buds it had left with r

On the flourishing bush where it gre I hastily seized it, unfit as it was

For a nosegay, so dripping and drow And swinging it radely, too rudely, ale

I mapp'd it-it fell to the ground.

And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part

Some act by the delicate mind,
Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart

Already to sorrow resign'd!
This elegant rose, had I shaken it less

Might have bloom'd with its owner awhile; And the tear that is wiped with a little address

May be follow'd perhaps by a smile.

THE DOVES.

REASONING at every step he treads,

Man yet mistakes his way,
While meaner things, whom instinct lencs

Are rarely known to stray.
One silent eve I wander'd late,

And heard the voice of love;
The turtle thus address'd her mate,

And sooth'd the listening dove:
Our mutual bond of faith and truth

No time shall disengage,
Those blessings of our early youth

Shall cheer our latest age:
While innocence without disguise,

And constancy sincere,
Shall fill the circles of those eyes,

And mine can read them there ;
Those ills, that wait on all below,

Shall ne'er be felt by me,
Or gently felt, and only so,

As being shared with thee.
When lightnings flash among the trees,

Or kites are hovering near,
I fear lest thee alone they seize,

And know no other fear.

'Tis then I feel myself a wife,

And press thy wedded side, Resolved a union form'd for life

Death never shall divide.

But oh! if fickle and unchaste

(Forgive a transie thought), Thou could become unkind at last,

And scorn thy present lot,
No need of lightnings from on high,

Or kites with cruel beak;
Denied the endearments of thine eye,

This widow'd heart would break.
Thus sang the sweet sequester'd bird,

Soft as the passing wind; And I recorded what I heard,

A lesson for mankind.

A FABLE.

A RAVEN, while with glossy breast
Her new-laid eggs she fondly pressid,
And on her wicker work high mounted,
Her chickens prematurely counted
A fault philosophers might blame
If quite exempted from the same),
Enjoy'd at ease the genial day;
'Twas April, as the bumpkins say,
The legislature call'd it May.
But suddenly a wind as high
As ever swept a winter sky,
Shook the young leaves about her ears,
And fill'd her with a thousand fears,
Lest the rude blast should snap the boughn
And spread her golden hopes below.
But juist at eve the blowing weather
And all her fears were hush'd together:
And now, quoth poor unthinking Ralph,
Tis over, and the brood is safe

(for ravens, though as birds of omen
They teach both conj'rers and old women
To tell us what is to befall,
Can't prophesy themselves at all).
The morning came, when neighbour Hodge,
Who long had mark'd her airy lodge,
And destined all the treasure there
A gift to his expecting fair,
Climb'd like a squirrel to his prey,
And bore the worthless prize away.

MORAL
Tis Providence alone secures,
In every change, both mine and yours :
Safety consists not in escape
From dangers of a frightful shape ;
An earthquake may be bid to spare
The man that's strangled by a hair.
Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oftenest in what least we dread:
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.

A COMPARISON. The lapse of time and rivers is the same, Both speed their journey with a restless stream ; The silent pace, with which they steal away, No wealth can bribe, nor prayers persuade to stay; Alike irrevocable both when past, And a wide ocean swallows both at last. Though each resemble each in every part, A difference strikes at length the musing heart: Streams never flow in vain; where streams abound How langhs the land with various plenty crown'ai But time, that should enrich the nobler mind, Neglected, leaves a weary waste bebind.

N

ANOTHER. ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY. SWEET stream, that winds through yonder glado Apt emblem of a virtuous maid Silent and chaste she steals along, Far from the world's gay busy throng; With gentle yet prevailing force, Intent upon her destined course; Graceful and useful all she does, Blessing and bless'd where'er she goes, Puro bosom'd as that watery glass, And heaven reflected in her face.

THE POET'S NEW-YEAR'S GIFT.

TO LADY THROCK MORTON. MARIA! I have every good

For thee wish'd many a time
Both sad and in a cheerful mood,

But never yet in rhyme.
To wish thee fairer is no need,

More prudent or more sprightly,
Or more ingenuous, or more freed

From temper-flaws unsightly.
What favour then, not yet possess'd

Can I for thee reqnire,
In wedded love already bless'd

To thy whole heart's desire.
None here is happy but in part:

Fall bliss is bliss divine:
There dwells some wish in every heart

And doubtless one in thine.
That wish, on some fair future day,

Which Fate shall brightly gild
("Tis blameless, be it what it may)

I wish it all fulfill'a.