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FUGITIVE POETRY.

LINES TO MARY.

OUR little bark bad spread her sail,
Prepar'd to catch the rising gale;
The anxious seaman whistled shrill,
Courting the breeze, but all was still;
The moon was sunk, but still the eye
Could love to range the starry sky,
Or see upon our vessel's prow,
The wave in mimic sparkles glow:
And, oh! 'twas grand to see her ride,
So stately o'er that sparkling tide,
Which told the experienc'd seaman's eye
The wish'd for southern breeze was nigh.
Brisk came the breeze, at morn we trod
Upon this Islet's verdant sod.
Trust me, we never thought of rest

Till high on yonder rocky steep,
Where the rude sea-bird builds her nest,
And lulls her clam'rous young to sleep.
Thence eastward far the eye could mark,
Full gaily gliding, many a bark,
On Commerce's golden lure intent,
On pleasure's loveliest errant bent,
Westward the Isle, yet dimly seen,
Lay Erin's hills of loveliest green.
Grand was the view, but oh! how grand,
As day-break bade the scene expand,
And from the little lonely Isle,

Bright in the horizon purpling far,
We saw the morning's virgin smile,

And mark'd the faintly fading star. But not the morning opening bright Gave such a swell of joy to me, As did the blackest low'ring night

Beneath whose shade I've stole to thee.
Yet, 'twas not that my heart was dead
To nature's charms around me spread:
No; since that heavenly spirit bright
Breath'd o'er her face his living light,
Never did bosom's feeling twine

So close round Nature's charms as mine.
But, Mary! when thou'rt distant, dear,
I have no heart for pleasures near.

I took the moment, fancy free,

And pray'd the breeze that sweeps these

hills,

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To me a church-yard is a pleasing walk,
For there my care-worn heart finds ease from
pain!

With sainted solitude I there can talk,
Muse on the world, and deem its turmoils
vain!

Mid tombs and tell-tale epitaphs I stand,
A weary pilgrim in the scene of woe;
Time's winged moments speed at Heav'n's
command,

I, soon, may join my kindred dust below!
Am I prepar'd for that important hour,
When God the spirit that he gave shall claim?
Have my past days been rul'd by Virtue's
[shame?
Or has Vice stamp'd them with the seal of
Oh! 'tis an awful thought!—Appall'd I
shrink,

pow'r?

For Conscience bids me from myself to fly!
Of mispent hours 'tis agony to think,
And, yet, to think not, is in sin to die!

Fain could I envy those, who peaceful sleep
Beneath my feet, from earthly bondage freed!
But 'tis my task in penitence to weep,
And earn of Piety the promis'd meed!

Oh God! my soul with fervent zeal inspire
Thy laws to follow, and thy paths pursue!
Kindle within Devotion's sacred fire,
Aud teach me to perform-what is thy due!
Pardon my errors past, and counsel give
How I my present course may strait direct!
Thou art my only aid, in Thee I live,
In mercy, then, my future ways protect!
The clock notes ten-another hour has fled-
The sands of life draw nearer to their end!
Slowly I quit the regions of the dead,
And my unwilling footsteps homewards bend.
A PENITENT.

THE SWEETS OF LIFE.
BY MR. PARRY,
Editor of the Welch Melodies.

WHAT'S more pleasing to the eye,
Than a clear unclouded sky?
What more grateful to the ear

Than the voice that speaks to cheer?

If by fate we're doom'd to roam,

What's more sweet thau thoughts of home?
If distress the bosom rend,

What's so welcome as a friend?

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Sweet's the lovely modest rose,
Which 'mid thorns and briars blows!
But more sweet the youth who proves
Faithful to the heart that loves.

ANACREON ON HIMSELF.

From the Greek.

BY THE REV. W. FAULKNER.

ON beds with odours, sweet diffuse,
Compos'd of flow'rs of various hues,
'Midst pleasure's blandishments reclin'd,
I'll banish sorrow from my mind:

Whilst love, so trim, shall bring me wine,
"And all Elysium shall be mine."
Swift as th' Olympian car's career,
Life's rapid current down we steer ;
Aud Death's imperial mandate must
This fabric soon consign to dust,
Then on my tomb why incense burn?
Why pour libations on my urn?
While yet I live, with wreaths, ye Fair,
Of roses, come, and deck my hair!
Ere I, O Love, my breath resign,
With airy forms below to join,
Devoid of care, and free, I'll live
'Midst ev'ry pleasure life can give.

THE MANIAC.

WRITTEN IN BEDLAM.

HARK! hark! what murm'ring sounds of woe
Burst from the hollow cells below:
'Tis there that on a wretched bed
A child of sorrow rests her head,
Borne down by mis'ry, grief, and pain,
A short repose she seeks in vain;
A few years back, and you might view
The happiest of the happy few;
That wretch, whose wan and haggard eye
Proclaims corroding misery,
Blest with an aged father's care,
As free as thought, as light as air;

Say, what could tempt her from such bliss,
From happiness so pure as this?
Devoid of ev'ry sense of shame,
A villainous seducer came :
Allur'd her from her peaceful cot,
Her aged sire, her happy lot:
In vile eujoyment quench'd his flame,
And, fiend-like, triumph'd in her shame;
Till, from all sense of honour torn,
He left th' unhappy maid forlorn,
Here, like a bark by whirlwinds tost,
Her sire forgot, her virtue lost,
Without a friend, without a name,
A hapless lunatic she came!

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The worthies cheer. At Isambard's command,

Order and confidence resume their sway; In silence, step by step, Gonsalvo's band

Arriv'd, pour o'er the ramparts their array: Gonsalve, Adrian's friend whom faith endear'd,

Receiv'd, where Toscanella's walls we spy, That feudal power his ancestors had rear'd; And Rome esteem'd his truth, zeal, bravery, A rural sceptre thus his dukedom wou,

And two-fold potency gave vigour to his throne.

HOPE.

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast."

POPE. 'MIDST the wild'rings of care, and the torments of strife,

That darken and sadden our path to the tomb, [life, Ab! what could induce us to struggle through If Hope, smiling Hope, did not brighten the gloom!

The chaplet that Sorrow had steep'd in her

tears,

Its roses all drooping, all wither'd and pale, Reviv'd by her breath, far more dazzling appears [the gale.

Than when it was scattering its balms on

O come, then, enchantress! and shed o'er my soul

A beam of thy radiance to lighten its woe; And while thy gay vision illusively roll,

I'll worship the spell, though its falsehood
I know.

For long in my bosom, corrosive and stern,

Hath wild Disappointment exerted its way; Yet still to the finger of Hope will I turn,

That points in the distance an unclouded day.

And will it return, that clear white dawning moru,

O'er which no more tempests of anguish shall rave?

Hope whispers it will, for, extracting the thorn, Thy bosom shall tranquilly rest in the grave.

* Toscanella is an acient Etrurian city, about thirty-five miles north of Rome. It is the country of the illustrious Fernandez Gonsalvo,who served under Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, at the close of the fifteenth, or beginning of the sixteenth century.

155

And clear shall eternity's morning arise, And bright and unfading thy happiness glow,

Tho' lost upon earth, 'twill be found in the skies,

Untarnish'd by falsehood, unsullied by woe!

THE HEROINE OF SARAGOZA. The following beautiful lines are from Lord Byron's late Poem, entitled, 6. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." They are devoted to the fame of the Maid of Saragoza.

Is it for this the Spanish Maid arous'd,
Hangs on the willow her unstrung guitar,
And, all unsex'd, the Anlace hath espous'd,
Sung the loud song, and dar'd the deed of
war?

And she, whom ouce the semblance of a scar
Appall'd, an owlet's larum chill'd with
dread,

Now views the column-scattering bay’net jar, The faulchion flash, and o'er the yet warm dead

Stalks with Minerva's step where Mars might quake to tread.

Ye who shall marvel when you hear her tale,

O! had you known her in her softer hour, Mark'd her black eye that mocks her coalblack veil,

Heard her light lively tones in Lady's bower,

Seen her long locks that foil'd the painter's power,

Her fairy form, with more than female

grace,

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FASHIONS

FOR

APRIL, 1812.

EXPLANATION OF THE PRINTS OF FASHION.

No. 1.-WALKING DRESS.

A three quarters pelisse, of dark willowgreen sarsnet, or fine Merino cloth, worn over a round dress of fine India muslin, richly embroidered, and trimmed round the bottom with lace, put on rather full. The pelisse made round in the skirt, like the short Indian coat; and trimmed round the throat and wrists with swansdown; faced in front and trimmed round the bottom with broad stripes of black velvet ; military front, with two rows of mother-ofpearl buttons, fastened down the front of the skirt with one row of the same and alternate tassels, the colour of the pelisse, which is confined at the waist by a gold belt. Yeoman's hat of the same colour, materials, and ornaments as the pelisse, and finished in front with a fiat ostrich feather. Half-boots of light fawn coloured kid, laced with dark willow green in front. Limerick gloves of pale straw colour.

No. 2.-EVENING DRESS,

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loured crape twisted in the front, the sam colour as the gown, and fa. tened on the crown with a ruby ornament to correspond with the broaches. Earrings of one large pearl, of the pear form, with a single row as a necklace to correspond; bracelets of two rows of pearl, clasped by one large ruby. White satia slippers, with very small rosettes of the same; and white kid gloves. A fine Cachemire shawl, of very pale buff colour, is thrown over this dress at the conclusion of visits, the Opera, &c.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

ON

FASHION AND DRESS.

Fashion renews her form a thousand times in every season; yet swift and changeable as she is, we boast the power of catching her as she flies, for London must ever be acknowledged the seat of her empire, and the place where her laws are most scrupulously execut

bow before her shrine, and though many af fect to smile at her changes, yet she finds imi tators every where, even amongst the natives of our African colonies.

A velvet, or gossamer satin gown, of brighted; yet her power is unlimited, distant climes amaranth, ruby, or cinnebar brown, with a demi-train, trimmed round the bottom, bosom, and sleeves with a light tassel fringe, of the frivolite kind, of the same colour; apron of white crape, sarsuet, or lace, ornamented with the same; sleeves of white satin, or of mate. rials correspondent with the apron; these short sleeves made rather nearer to the elbow than formerly, and formed after the chemisette style. The body of the gown richly ornamented with beads or pearl, crossed like the ribband braciers, and confined at the bosom by a bright ruby broach, set round with pearl. The waist confined by two rows of beads or pearl, and fastened in front with a broach, the same as that on the bust. A lace half handkerchief, with a border richly embroidered in Coloured silks, tied carelessly round the neck. Moorish turban of white satin and cc

The three quarter pelisse, and the yeoman's bat, is the most favourite dress for walking; and the cold month of March has again caused the warm velvet, and other winter articles of dress, to be as much in requisition as in the more gelid season of winter's reign: though India muslins, of every description, particalarly the fine Decca, are in peculiar favour, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather in the commencement of the month of March; and, indeed, under the three quarter pelisse, there is no dress so appropriate as those which are either fabricated either of cambric or muslin A large coat of Merino cloth, of the wrapping kind, is also much worn, and on a few

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Engraved for the 30 Number of La Belle Asemblée April 1812.

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