SAINT CLOUD. [Paris, 5th September, 1815.] SOFT spread the southern summer night The terrace of Saint Cloud. The evening breezes gently sigh'd, Like breath of lover true, Bewailing the deserted pride And wreck of sweet Saint Cloud. The drum's deep roll was heard afar, The startled Naiads from the shade And silenced was that proud cascade, We sate upon its steps of stone, Nor could its silence1 rue, When waked, to music of our own, The echoes of Saint Cloud. Slow Seine might hear each lovely note And sure a melody more sweet His waters never knew, Though music's self was wont to meet Nor then, with more delighted ear, Than ours, when gather'd round to hear, 8 Few happy hours poor mortals pass,- 1 [MS.-"Absence."] 2 [MS.-"Midnight."] 3 [These lines were written after an evening spent at Saint Cloud with the late Lady Alvanley and her daughters, one of whom was the songstress alluded to in the text.] LINES,' ADDRESSED TO RANALD MACDONALD, ESQ., OF STAFFA. STAFFA, sprung from high Macdonald, [These lines were written in the Album, kept at the Sound of Ulva Inn, in the month of August, 1814.] LINES, ADDRESSED TO MONSIEUR ALEXANDRE, THE CELEBRATED VENTRILOQUIST. Of yore, in old England, it was not thought good To carry two visages under one hood; What should folk say to you? who have faces such plenty, That from under one hood, you last night show'd us twenty! Stand forth, arch-deceiver, and tell us in truth, Are you handsome or ugly, in age or in youth? 1 [“ When Monsieur Alexandre, the celebrated ventriloquist, was in Scotland, in 1824, he paid a visit to Abbotsford, where he entertained his distinguished host, and the other visitors, with his unrivalled imitations. Next morning, when he was about to depart, Sir Walter felt a good deal embarrassed, as to the sort of acknowledgment he should offer; but at length, resolving that it would probably be most agreeable to the young foreigner to be paid in professional coin, if in any, he stepped aside for a few minutes, and, on returning, presented him with this epigram. The reader need hardly be reminded, that Sir Walter Scott held the office of Sheriff of the county of Selkirk."—Scotch Newspaper, 1830.] Man, woman, or child- -a dog or a mouse? too, A work-shop in your person,-saw, chisel, and screw! Above all, are you one individual? I know You must be at least Alexandre and Co. mob, And that I, as the Sheriff, should take up the job; And instead of rehearsing your wonders in verse, Must read you the Riot-Act, and bid you disperse. ABBOTSFORD, 23d April.1 [The lines, with this date, appeared in the Edinburgh Annual Register of 1824. M. Alexandre Vattemaire became celebrated as the originator of the system of international literary exchanges.] |