In a deep vision's intellectual scene, Such earnest longings and regrets as keen Depressed the melancholy Cowley, laid Under a fancied yew-tree's luckless shade; A doleful bower for penitential song, Where Man and Muse complained of mutual wrong;

While Cam's ideal current glided by,

115

And antique towers nodded their foreheads high,

Citadels dear to studious privacy.

119

But Fortune, who had long been used to sport With this tried Servant of a thankless Court, Relenting met his wishes; and to you

The remnant of his days at least was true; You, whom, though long deserted, he loved

best;

You, Muses, books, fields, liberty, and rest! 125

Far happier they who, fixing hope and aim On the humanities of peaceful fame, Enter betimes with more than martial fire The generous course, aspire, and still aspire; Upheld by warnings heeded not too late Stifle the contradictions of their fate, And to one purpose cleave, their Being's godlike mate!

130

Thus, gifted Friend, but with the placid

brow

That woman ne'er should forfeit, keep thy vow; With modest scorn reject whate'er would

blind

135

The ethereal eyesight, cramp the wingèd mind!
Then, with a blessing granted from above
To every act, word, thought, and look of love,

Life's book for Thee may lie unclosed, till age Shall with a thankful tear bedrop its latest 1 page.

140

IV.

1829.

POOR ROBIN.2

Now when the primrose makes a splendid show,
And lilies face the March-winds in full blow,
And humbler growths as moved with one desire
Put on, to welcome spring, their best attire,
Poor Robin is yet flowerless; but how gay 5
With his red stalks upon this sunny day!
And, as his tufts of leaves he spreads, content
With a hard bed and scanty nourishment,
Mixed with the green, some shine not lacking
power

:

1 There is now, alas! no possibility of the anticipation, with which the above Epistle concludes, being realised nor were the verses ever seen by the Individual for whom they were intended. She accompanied her husband, the Rev. Wm. Fletcher, to India, and died of cholera, at the age of thirty-two or thirty-three years, on her way from Shalapore to Bombay, deeply lamented by all who knew her.

Her enthusiasm was ardent, her piety steadfast; and her great talents would have enabled her to be eminently useful in the difficult path of life to which she had been called. The opinion she entertained of her own performances, given to the world under her maiden name, Jewsbury, was modest and humble, and, indeed, far below their merits; as is often the case with those who are making trial of their powers, with a hope to discover what they are best fitted for. In one quality, viz., quickness in the motions of her mind, she had, within the range of the Author's acquaintance, no equal.

2 The small wild Geranium known by that name.

To rival summer's brightest scarlet flower; 10
And flowers they well might seem to passers-by
If looked at only with a careless eye;
Flowers-or a richer produce (did it suit

The season) sprinklings of ripe strawberry fruit.

15

But while a thousand pleasures come unsought, Why fix upon his wealth or want a thought? Is the string touched in prelude to a lay Of pretty fancies that would round him play When all the world acknowledged elfin sway? Or does it suit our humour to commend Poor Robin as a sure and crafty friend, Whose practice teaches, spite of names to

show

20

26

Bright colours whether they deceive or no?-
Nay, we would simply praise the free good-will
With which, though slighted, he, on naked hill
Or in warm valley, seeks his part to fill;
Cheerful alike if bare of flowers as now,
Or when his tiny gems shall deck his brow:
Yet more, we wish that men by men despised,
And such as lift their foreheads overprized, 30
Should sometimes think, where'er they chance
to spy

This child of Nature's own humility,

What recompense is kept in store or left
For all that seem neglected or bereft ;
With what nice care equivalents are given, 35
How just, how bountiful, the hand of Heaven.
March, 1840.

V.

THE GLEANER.

SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE.

THAT happy gleam of vernal eyes,
Those locks from summer's golden skies,
That o'er thy brow are shed;

That cheek-a kindling of the morn,
That lip-a rose-bud from the thorn,
I saw; and Fancy sped

5

10

To scenes Arcadian, whispering, through soft air,
Of bliss that grows without a care,
And happiness that never flies—
(How can it where love never dies?)
Whispering of promise, where no blight
Can reach the innocent delight;
Where pity, to the mind conveyed
In pleasure, is the darkest shade
That Time, unwrinkled grandsire, flings
From his smoothly gliding wings.

What mortal form, what earthly face
Inspired the pencil, lines to trace,
And mingle colours, that should breed
Such rapture, nor want power to feed;
For had thy charge been idle flowers,
Fair Damsel! o'er my captive mind,
To truth and sober reason blind,

15

20

24

'Mid that soft air, those long-lost bowers, The sweet illusion might have hung, for hours.

Thanks to this tell-tale sheaf of corn,

That touchingly bespeaks thee born
Life's daily tasks with them to share

Who, whether from their lowly bed
They rise, or rest the weary head,
Ponder the blessing they entreat
From Heaven, and feel what they repeat,
While they give utterance to the prayer
That asks for daily bread.

1828.

30

VI.

TO A REDBREAST (IN SICKNESS).

STAY, little cheerful Robin! stay,
And at my casement sing,
Though it should prove a farewell lay
And this our parting spring.

Though I, alas! may ne'er enjoy
The promise in thy song;

A charm, that thought can not destroy,

Doth to thy strain belong.

Methinks that in my dying hour

Thy song would still be dear,

And with a more than earthly power
My passing Spirit cheer.

Then, little Bird, this boon confer,

Come, and my requiem sing,

Nor fail to be the harbinger

Of everlasting Spring.

5

10

15

S. H.