VERSES. PENSIVE I rove the pebbled shore, Secluded from the noisy town, Where folly rules with potent sway; Where malice points the scornful frown; And specious friends, alas! betray. I hear the tumult from afar Of mingled joy and sorrow loud; There mad Ambition mounts the car, And still deludes the gaping crowd. Ah! little do his vot'ries know What bliss these peaceful scenes afford; What charms from this retirement flow, What plenty decks my homely board. on the margin of the stream, Or through the flow'ry meads I stray, Some blissful vision prompts my theme, And sweetly cheats the fleeting day. Sequester'd thus from care and show, C. S. TO HENRY. AH! tell me not, that jealous fear But while, by giddy fancy led, In search of joy you wildly rove, Yet soon my anxious fears shall cease, Emma. THE THORN WITHOUT THE ROSE. "No o more, my bosom's peace to wound, The oft-told tale relate, Of troubles you, my friend, have found "The querulous capricious mind Thus Jack to Tom, his comrade dear, A termagant his consort prov'd, From Hecate scarce in form remov'd, "My friendly monitor, I must "But, think how hard his fate must be, How piteous sure his woes, Who's destin'd to possess, like me, The Thorn without the Rose. MS. TO HOPE. AH! who is me! from day to day The morrow comes, but brings to me Sweet Hope, thy promises deceiving? Yet false and cruel as thou art, Anonymous. REFLECTIONS ON MATRIMONY. BY AN OLD BACHELOR. Down to the vale of life I tend, Where hoary age creeps slowly on ; And with the burdening thought I bend, That youth and all its joys are gone.— Successive years have roll'd away, Now, with a retrospective eye, I waited, hop'd, and trusted still, Did fortune throw it in my way. Too nice, too wise, too proud was I And I—the condescending fool.— |