21. TO A SPIDER WHICH INHABITED A CELL. FEB. 1822.
In this wild, groping, dark, and drearie cove,
Of wife, of children, and of health bereft,
I hailed thee, friendly Spider, who hadst wove
Thy mazy net on yonder mouldering raft;
Would that the cleanlie Housemaid still had left
Three tarrying here, nor took thy life away;
For thou from out this seare old ceiling's cleft
Came down each morn to hede my plaintive lay;
Joying like me to heare sweete musick play,
Wherewith I'd fein beguile the dull dark lingering
22. INSCRIPTION ON A DOG, 1779.
"Not indolently tame, or fiercely wild,
His mien was gentle and his temper mild.
Untaught to growl defiance at the poor,
He drove no humble beggar from the door.
From youth ev'n to his life's remotest end,
His greatest pleasure to caress a friend.
Deem not amiss, if where his relics lay,
A Sudden tear should fall on gentle TRAY."
22. EPITAPH ON A FAITHFUL DOG. 1820.
A VICTIM only to the lapse of age
Here lies a faithful friend, the storied page
Of History and the Muses dirfe proclaim
What sorrow fain would have concealed, his name
Him whom his master's fostering hand had rear'd,
Whom heedless Fortune's slaughering tread had
And bloodyhanded Fury left untorn [spared
The slow unerring tooth of time hath worn
Then hither Sisters of the sacred spring,
The solace of your sweetest music bring,
And in sat number chant his homely praise,
While tears responsive flow to your soft lays,
Praise ye his honest face, his curlie hair,
Hi nonchalance and independent air,
His tongue that never knew the liar's brand,
His faithful watch unbribed by treacherous hand
His deepton'd bark, surpassing all belief
The well known terror of each nightly thief;
Lay up his ashes in you virgin's bower,
Where the white snowdrop and sweet violet flower
And on the urn write "Strangers, pause and see
The grave of one without hypocrisy?
He lick'd the hand alone who would caress,
But struck he snapp'd with honest peevishness,
He guarded well the house, nor left his home
At night in search of lady dogs to roam,
But was a holy Friar in hist cast,
And lived in single bliss, unto the last.
To his pure shade he better homage given
Than man deserves who shuts him out of Heaven;
Nor deem the vow unhallowed-that the boon
Of peace eternal be the lot of Schroon.
All haile the twenteeth of May!
Haste, my Harriet, haste this way!
Roses and Violets blue,
Sweet Briars, and fragant Eglantine,
I have plucked for you.
Of the three Simmer months they say,
The most of luck is the twenty o' May,
Our hearts and hands to join;
This bloom which fills the fragrant aire
Shall rest upon thy bosom faire,
And thou shall rest on mine.
A MOONLIGHT WALK BY THE SEASIDE 27
Imitated from the anthologia.
The soft sea breeze blows warm and light Along the welkin fair,
While fleckered clouds float on by night
In the roscid moonlight air.
By Thetis silver tinselled shoon,
The breast of Earth is prest,
And Fairies play by the light of the moon,
While the mortal world is at rest. 00
26. TO SELENA. AUG. 1816.
O Selena faire and bright,
My mistresse thou shalt be this night. I'll ride behind thee in thy glowing Car. My wandering genius takes me there, To rove with thee the liquid aire, Thy Satellite or else thy pageant Starre. The pearlie Crescent that doth shine
Upon thy front shall be a sign
To all chaste Virgins that may follow thee, That blessed Mary once did beare
This sign upon her amber hair,
Emblem of Virtue meek and heavenlie Cha stitie.
Hark! now I hear those evening bells,
What doleful tales their music tells,
Of comfort past, of hours mispent,
Of youth to senseless vices lent;
Of childish joys in days of yore,
Of merry playmates now no more;
Of all that frightful change of things
Which each succeding season brings.
Softly ring on, melodious peal,
Your soft persuasive strains I feel,
Which give refreshment to the soul,
By carolling its proper goal.
For though each soulentrancing knell
Seems some fair image lost to tell,
|