ON A GOLDFINCH STARVED TO DEATH IN HIS CAGE. I. TIME was when I was free as air, II. But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain, And of a transient date; For caught and caged, and starved to death, In dying sighs my little breath Soon passed the wiry grate. Thanks, gentle swain, for all my woes, And thanks for this effectual close, And cure of every ill! More cruelty could none express; Had been your prisoner still. THE PINE-APPLE AND THE BEE. THE pine-apples, in triple row, To every pane his trunk applied; 1 The nymph between two chariot glasses, The silly unsuccessful bec. The maid, who views with pensive air Like thine, her appetite is keen, Our dear delights are often such, Exposed to view, but not to touch; The sight our foolish heart inflames, We long for pine-apples in frames; With hopeless wish one looks and lingers; One breaks the glass, and cuts his fingers; But they whom truth and wisdom lead, Can gather honey from a weed. HORACE. Book the 2d. ODE the 10. I. RECEIVE, dear friend, the truths I teach, H. He, that holds fast the golden mean, The little and the great, Feels not the wants, that pinch the poor, Nor plagues, that haunt the rich man's door, 1 Imbittering all his state. The tallest pines feel most the power And spread the ruin round. The well informed philosopher Soon the sweet spring comes dancing forth, And nature laughs again. ས. What if thine heaven be overcast, The God, that strings the silver bow, VI, If hindrances obstruct thy way, And let thy strength be seen; A REFLECTION ON THE FOREGOING ODE, AND is this all? Can reason do no more THE LILY AND THE ROSE. I. THE nymph must lose her female friend, But where will fierce contention end, If flowers can disagree? II. Within the garden's peaceful scene Appeared two lovely foes, Aspiring to the rank of queen, The Lily and the Rose. |