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No wailing ghost shall dare appear

To vex with shrieks this quiet grove; But shepherd lads assemble here,

And melting virgins own their love. No wither'd witch shall here be seen; No goblins lead their nightly crew: The female Fays shall haunt the green, And dress thy grave with pearly dew!

The redbreast oft, at evening hours,

Shall kindly lend his little aid,

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With hoary moss and gather'd flowers,

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To deck the ground where thou art laid.

When howling winds and beating rain,

In tempests shake the sylvan cell; Or 'midst the chase, on every plain,

The tender thought on thee shall dwell;

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COLLINS.

Each lonely scene shall thee restore;

For thee the tear be duly shed;

Beloved till life can charm no more,

And mourn'd till pity's self be dead.

THE CHAMELEON.

OFT has it been my lot to mark
A proud, conceited, talking spark,
With eyes that hardly served at most
To guard their master 'gainst a post;
Yet round the world the blade has been,

To see, whatever could be seen.
Returning from his finish'd tour,
Grown ten times perter than before,

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Whatever word you chance to drop,
The travell'd fool your mouth will stop;
"Sir, if my judgement you'll allow-
I've seen, and sure, I ought to know,"
So begs you'd pay a due submission,
And acquiesce in his decision.

Two travellers of such a cast,
As o'er Arabia's wilds they pass'd,
And on their way, in friendly chat,
Now talk'd of this and then of that,
Discoursed awhile, 'mongst other matter,
Of the Chameleon's form and nature.

66 A stranger animal," cries one,
"Sure never lived beneath the sun!
A lizard's body, lean and long,
A fish's head, a serpent's tongue,
Its foot, with triple claw disjoin'd;
And, what a length of tail behind!
How slow its space! and then its hue!
Who ever saw so fine a blue ?"

"Hold there," the other quick replies,
"T is green: I saw it with these eyes,
As late with open mouth it lay
And warm'd it in the sunny ray;
Stretch'd at its ease the beast I view'd,
And saw it eat the air for food."

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"I've seen it, Sir, as well as you,

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And must again affirm it blue ;

At leisure I the beast survey'd

Extended in the cooling shade."

""T is green, 't is green, Sir, I assure ye." "Green!" cries the other in a fury,

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"Why, Sir, d'ye think I've lost my eyes?"
""T were no great loss," the friend replies;
"For, if they always serve you thus,
You'll find them of but little use."

So high at last the contest rose,
From words they almost came to blows:
When luckily came by a third :

To him the question they referr'd;
And begg'd he'd tell 'em if he knew,
Whether the thing was green or blue.

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"Sirs," cries the umpire, "cease your pother; The creature's neither one nor t' other. I caught the animal last night, And view'd it o'er by candlelight:

I mark'd it well; 't was black as jet.

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You stare: but, Sirs, I've got it yet,

And can produce it." "Pray, Sir, do;
I'll lay my life, the thing is blue.”

"And I'll be sworn that, when you've seen
The reptile, you'll pronounce him
green."

"Well then, at once to ease the doubt,"
Replies the man, "I'll turn him out;
And when before your eyes I've set him,
If you don't find him black, I'll eat him."
He said; then full before their sight
Produced the beast, and, lo! 't was white.
Both stared; the man look'd wondrous wise:
"My children," the chameleon cries,

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(Then first the creature found a tongue,) "You all are right and all are wrong: When next you talk of what you view,

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Think others see as well as you;

Nor wonder, if you find that none
Preters your eyesight to his own."

ALEXANDER SELKIRK.

I AM monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute, From the centre all round to the sea,

I am lord of the fowl and the brute. O Solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.

I am out of humanity's reach,

MERRICK

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I must finish my journey alone,

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Never hear the sweet music of speech,

I start at the sound of my own.

The beasts that roam over the plain

My form with indifference see;

They are so unacquainted with man,—

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Their tameness is shocking to me.

Society, friendship, and love,

Divinely bestow'd upon man,
Oh had I the wings of a dove,

How soon would I taste you again !
My sorrows I then might assuage
In the ways of religion and truth.
Might learn from the wisdom of age,
And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth.

Religion! what treasure untold

Resides in that heavenly word'

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More precious than silver and gold,
Or all that this earth can afford.
But the sound of the church-going bell
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Never sigh'd at the sound of a knell,
Or smiled when a sabbath appear'd.

Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore

Some cordial endearing report

Of a land I shall visit no more.

My friends, do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?

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O tell me I yet have a friend,

Though a friend I am never to see.

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How fleet is a glance of the mind!

Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light.
When I think of my own native land,
In a moment I seem to be there;
But, alas! recollection at hand
Soon hurries me back to despair.

But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest,
The beast is laid down in his lair
Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair.
There's mercy in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

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COWPER.

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