FILL THE GOBLET AGAIN.

LORD BYRON.

FILL the goblet again! for I never before
Felt the glow which now gladdens my heart to its core ;
Let us drink! who would not ? since, through life's varied round,
In the goblet alone no deception is found.

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I have tried in its turn all that life can supply;
I have bask'd in the beam of a dark rolling eye;
I have lov’d, who has not ? but what heart can declare
That pleasure existed while passion was there?

In the days of my youth—when the heart's in its spring,
And dreams that affection can never take wing-
I had friends, who has not ? but what tongue will avow
That friends, rosy wine! are so faithful as thou ?

The heart of a mistress some boy may estrange;
Friendship shifts with the sunbeam-thou never canst change;
Thou grow'st old, who does not? but on earth what appears,
Whose virtues, like thine, still increase with its years ?

Yet, if blest to the utmost that love can bestow,
Should a rival bow down to our idol below,
We are jealous, who's not ? thou hast no such alloy,
For the more that enjoy thee, the more we enjoy.

When the season of youth and its vanities past,
For refuge we fly to the goblet at last;
There we find, do we not? in the flow of the soul,
That truth, as of yore, is confin'd to the bowl.
When the box of Pandora was open'd on earth,
And misery's triumph commenc'd over mirth,
Hope was left, was she not? but the goblet we kiss,
And care not for hope, who are certain of bliss.

Long life to the grape! for when summer is flown,
The
age

of our nectar shall gladden our own.
We must die! who must not ? May our sins be forgiven,
And Hebe shall never be idle in heaven.

THE BEST OF ALL GOOD COMPANY.

BARRY CORNWALL. The music by HENRY PHILLIPS.

Sing !-Who sings
To her who weareth a hundred rings ?

Ah! who is this lady fine?
The vine, boys, the vine!
The mother of mighty wine,

A roamer is she

O'er wall and tree,
And sometimes very good company.

Drink !—who drinks
To her who blusheth and never thinks ?

Ah! who is this maid of thine ?
The grape, boys, the grape!
Oh, never let her escape
Until she be turn’d to wine!

For better is she

Than vine can be,
And very, very good company.

Dream !Who dreams
Of the god that governs a thousand streams?

Ah! who is this spirit fine ?
'Tis wine, boys, 'tis wine!
God Bucchus, a friend of mine.

Oh, better is he

Than grape or tree,
And the best of all good company.

A SONG AFTER A TOAST.

CHARLES MACKAY. From "Legends of the Isles.” The music by W. HOBBS.

IF he to whom this toast we drink

Has brought the needy to his door;
Or rais'd the wretch from ruin's brink

From the abundance of his store :

If he hath sooth'd the mourner's woe,

Or help'd young merit into fame, This night our cups shall overflow

In honour of his name.

If he be poor, and yet has striven

To ease the load of human care; If to the famish'd he has given

One loaf that it was hard to share; If, in his poverty erect,

He never did a deed of shame; Fill high! we'll drain in deep respect

A bumper to his name.

But rich or poor, if still his plan

Has been to play an honest part; If he ne'er fail'd his word to man,

Or broke a trusting woman's heart; If emulation fire his soul

To snatch the meed of virtuous fame; Fill high! we'll drain a flowing bowl

In honour of his name.

Among all nations in which poetry has been cultivated, songwriters have ever found abundance of exercise in their vocation in adapting to music the expression of moral sentiment, or in making the satire of manners more agreeable, more popular, and more permanently useful, by the union of poetry and music. Some of the most beautiful songs in the English language belong to this class; and there has been no song-writer worthy of the name who has not occasionally forsaken the amatory, convivial, or patriotic departments of his art—long erroneously considered by false critics to be the only legitimate spheres of song—to praise virtue, to condemn vice, to hold folly up to ridicule, and to depict the good or ill manners of society. The songs

of this description are exceedingly numerous, and are of every degree of merit and demerit, ranging from the broadest comedy to the seriousness of the sermon, and even of the hymn. The vanity of human life, the instability of greatness, the charms of friendship, the pleasures of temperance, the blessings of a contented mind, the consolations of old age, and a thousand similar topics, are true sources of inspiration for the lyrist; while subjects of more public interest—the growth or decay of national virtue, and the condition, hopes, aspirations, and fears of the people in general, or of large and important sections of them, afford, in like manner, abundant opportunities for the moral or satirical song-writer. “Poets," as Mr. Emerson finely and truly says, “ should be lawgivers : that is, the boldest lyric inspiration should not chide or insult, but should commence and lead the civil code and the day's work.”

It was in reference to this class of songs that Fletcher of Saltoun uttered the famous dictum (not his own) on the importance of song-writing. In his “ Account of a Conversation concerning the right Regulation of Governments for the common Good of Mankind,” he complains that “the poorer sort of both sexes are daily tempted to all manner of wickedness by infamous ballads sung in every corner of the streets. I knew.” he adds, “a very wise man that believed if a man were pernitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation. And we find that most of the ancient legislators thought they could not well reform the manners of any city without the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic poet.” The extension of education and the triumphs of the printing-press have rendered the labours of the moral and satirical song-writers of less value than in the time of the ancient legislators, or than in those times, comparatively recent, when Fletcher of Saltoun wrote ; but, even in our day, a false error may be propped up by a song, and a great truth advanced by the same agency. So that the dictum still retains a portion of its ancient value.

The moral and satirical songs are here included together; for if satire be not moral, it is an abuse; and the lessons of morality have often a better chance of being effective if sharpened by judicious satire. There are vast numbers of political songs

and ballads of this class, which have been produced from the days of the civil wars to our own, which would alone fill many interesting volumes, valuable for the light they would throw