But see the dawn approaches fast "One more kind kiss must be our last, Thrice did my trembling tongue essay But thrice the accents dy'd away LINES Inscribed on the back-ground of the case in which this beautiful bird is preserved. "Oh pretty Pol-and pretty dear" Was all this bird could utter clear, And these you think might only be The words of lying vanity. The relics of her beauty view And own that all she said was true. TO MARY. The twentieth year is well nigh past, Ah would that this might be the last! My Mary! Thy spirits have a fainter flow, I see thee daily weaker grow➡ 'Twas my distress that brought thee low, My Mary! Thy needles, once a shining store, Now rust disus'd, and shine no more, My Mary! For though thou gladly would'st fulfil Thy sight now seconds not thy will, My Mary! But well thou play'd'st the house-wife's part; And all thy threads with magic art, Have wound themselves about this heart, My Mary! Thy indistinct expressions seem Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme, My Mary! Thy silver locks, once auburn bright! My Mary. For could I view nor them nor thee My Mary! Partakers of thy sad decline, Thy hands their little force resign; Yet, gently prest, press geutly mine, My Mary! Such feebleness of limbs thou prov'st, My Mary! And still to love, though prest with ill; My Mary! But ah! by constant heed I know, My Mary! And should my future lot be cast My Mary. ELEGIAC STANZAS. Now Spring returns, but not to me returns And all the joys of life with health have flown. Starting and shiv'ring in th' inconstant wind, And count the silent moments as they pass: The winged moments, whose unstaying speed Whose flight shall shortly count me with the dead, Oft morning dreams, presage approaching fate, I hear the helpless wail, the shriek of woe, Farewell, ye blooming fields, ye cheerful plains! There let me wander at the close of eve, And talk with wisdom, where my Daphnis liesy |