Gladly, thou and he are friends; THE ROSE° 20 THE rose had been washed, just washed in a shower, The plentiful moisture encumbered the flower, The cup was all filled, and the leaves were all wet, 5 And it seemed, to a fanciful view, 10 15 To weep for the buds it had left with regret I hastily seized it, unfit as it was For a nosegay, so dripping and drowned; And swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas! I snapped it it fell to the ground. "And such," I exclaimed, "is the pitiless part Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart "This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, Might have bloomed with its owner awhile; And the tear, that is wiped with a little address, May be followed perhaps by a smile." THE DOVES? I REASONING at every step he treads, While meaner things, whom instinct leads, II One silent eve I wandered late, And heard the voice of love; The turtle thus addressed her mate, III "Our mutual bond of faith and truth, No time shall disengage, Those blessings of our early youth Shall cheer our latest age: IV "While innocence without disguise, And constancy sincere, Shall fill the circles of those eyes, V Those ills that wait on all below, Or gently felt, and only so, VI "When lightnings flash among the trees, I fear lest thee alone they seize, VII ""Tis then I feel myself a wife, And press thy wedded side, 25 25 Resolved a union formed for life, VIII "But oh! if fickle and unchaste, IX "No need of lightnings from on high, Denied the endearments of thine eye, X Thus sang the sweet sequestered bird, A lesson for mankind. 30 335 40 ODE TO APOLLO° ON AN INKGLASS ALMOST DRIED IN THE SUN PATRON of all those luckless brains That, to the wrong side leaning, And why, since oceans, rivers, streams, Pay tribute to thy glorious beams, In constant exhalations; Why, stooping from the noon of day, Too covetous of drink, Apollo, hast thou stolen away 5 10 Ordained, perhaps, ere summer flies, To form an Iris° in the skies, Illustrious drop! and happy then Of all that ever passed my pen, |