And frae his harp sic strains did flow,

Might roused the slumbering dead to hear;

But, oh! it was a tale of wo,

As ever met a Briton's ear!

He sang wi' joy the former day,
He weeping wail'd his latter times;
But what he said it was nae play,
I winna ventur't in my rhymes.

SONG.

THEIR groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon,

Where bright-beaming summers exalt the perfume;

Far dearer to me yon glen o' green breckan, Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom.

Far dearer to me are yon humble broom bowers, Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk lowly un

seen:

For there, lightly tripping amang the wild flowers, A-listening the linnet, aft wanders my Jean.

Though rich is the breeze in their gay sunny valleys,

And cauld Caledonia's blast on the wave; Their sweet-scented woodlands that skirt the proud palace,

What are they?-The haunt of the tyrant and slave !

The slave's spicy forests, and gold bubbling

fountains,

The brave Caledonian views wi' disdain ;

He wanders as free as the winds of his mountains, Save love's willing fetters, the chains o' his Jean.

SONG.

CHORUS.

HERE'S a health to ane I lo'e dear,

Here's a health to ane I lo'e dear;

Thou art sweet as the smile when fond lovers

meet,

And soft as their parting tear-Jessy!

Although thou maun never be mine,
Although even hope is denied ;
'Tis sweeter for thee despairing,
Than aught in the world beside-Jessy!
Here's a health, &c.

I mourn through the gay, gaudy day,
As, hopeless, I muse on thy charms;
But welcome the dream o' sweet slumber,
For then I am lockt in thy arms-Jessy!
Here's a health, &c.

I guess by the dear angel-smile.
I guess by the love-rolling e
But, why urge the tender confession,
'Gainst fortune's fell cruel decree-Jessy!
Here's a health, &c.

BESSY AT HER SPINNING-WHEEL.

O LEEZE me on my spinning-wheel,
O leeze me on my rock and reel ;
Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien,
And haps me fiel and warm at e'en!
I'll set me down, and sing, and spin,
While laigh descends the summer sun,
Blest wi' content, and milk, and meal-
O leeze me on my spinning-wheel.

On ilka hand the burnies trot,
And meet below my theekit cot;
The scented birk and hawthorn white
Across the pool their arms unite,
Alike to screen the birdie's nest,
And little fishes caller rest;

The sun blinks kindly in the biel',
Where blithe I turn my spinning-wheel.

On lofty aiks the cushats wail,
And echo cons the doolfu' tale:
The lintwhites in the hazel braes,
Delighted, rival ither's lays :
The craik amang the claver-hay,
The paitrick whirren o'er the ley,
The swallow jinkin round my shiel,
Amuse me at my spinning-wheel.

Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy,
Aboon distress, below envy ;
O wha wad leave this humble state,
For a' the pride of a' the great!

ន

Amid their flaring, idle toys,
Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys,
Can they the peace and pleasure feel
Of Bessy at her spinning-wheel?

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.
BORN 1766-DIED 1823.

THE author of "THE FARMER'S BOY" was born at Hon

ington, in Bedfordshire. His father was a tailor, but Bloomfield lost him while still a child, and to his mother he was indebted for all the education he got. In her widowhood she kept a school for the maintenance of her orphan family. At the age of eleven Robert went into the employment of an uncle who was a farmer. While there, his principal duty was to scare the birds from the corn, and such light offices as suited his years. Here he silently and unconsciously accumulated that store of rural images afterwards so pleasingly displayed in "The Farmer's Boy." But his intercourse with rural life was soon broken off. He was taken to London by an elder brother, who taught him his own trade of shoemaking. This calling Bloomfield exercised for a good many years; and he had married long before he was known as a poet. Reading had always been his delight, especially poetry; and from admiring he began to imitate, till, almost by accident, some of his verses found a place in a newspaper. Publication, in whatever shape, forms a new era in a poet's existence. A success so flattering as a place in a newspaper induced farther attempts, and The Farmer's Boy was composed, but obtained little notice till it luckily

fell into the hands of Mr Capel Lofft, who spared no pains to bring the poet into notice. The poem passed through many editions, and obtained for its author the patronage of the Duke of Grafton, who gave Bloomfield a small annuity, and the place of Under-sealer in the Seal-office. Ill health compelled Bloomfield to resign this small office; and he returned to his awl, and occasionally made Æolian harps, which were bought by those who wished to afford a modest and ingenious man some trifling assistance without wounding his feelings of independence. He also published several volumes, which all had a tolerable sale; nor is it easy to account for his pecuniary hardships and continual embarrassments on the supposition of a common degree of prudence. After this period, he engaged in bookselling without either ca. pital or knowledge of business, and soon became bankrupt. He then left London in very bad health, and settled at Shefford, in Bedfordshire. It is told, that a place was solicited for him at this time by Mr Rogers, and that a powerful minister of the day gave his promise; which was kept as many such promises are. It is more pleasing to mention, that Mr Southey attempted to obtain an annuity for the humble poet among literary friends and admirers, and generously offered five pounds a year as his own contribution. Bloomfield was by this time. unfit for any species of labour, whether mental or mechanical. Violent headaches nearly deprived him of sight; and he suffered so much from debility and nervous irritation, that his friends became apprehensive for his soundness of mind. From these fears they were released by his death.

The poetical reputation of Bloomfield rests on his first production," The Farmer's Boy," which, if rather overestimated on its first appearance, must long continue to please from its truth and simplicity of sentiment, and from smoothness and even sweetness of versification. It