A COMPARISON. THE lapse of time and rivers is the same, And a wide ocean swallows both at last. ANOTHER. ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY. SWEET stream, that winds through yonder Apt emblem of a virtuous maid— Silent and chaste she steals along, Far from the world's gay busy throng; With gentle yet prevailing force, [glade, THE POET'S NEW YEAR'S GIFT. TO MRS. (NOW LADY) THROCKMORTON. MARIA! I have every good For thee wish'd many a time, Both sad, and in a cheerful mood, But never yet in rhyme. To wish thee fairer is no need, What favour then not yet possess'd In wedded love already blest, To thy whole heart's desire? None here is happy but in part : There dwells some wish in every heart, That wish on some fair future day, PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED. A FABLE. I SHALL not ask Jean Jaques Rousseau 1 'Tis clear, that they were always able Must have a most uncommon skull. To forestall sweet St. Valentine, In many an orchard, copse, and grove, And with much twitter and much chatter Began to agitate the matter. At length a Bullfinch, who could boast 1 It was one of the whimsical speculations of this philosopher, that all fables, which ascribe reason and speech to animals, should be withheld from children, as being only vehicles of deception. But what child was ever deceived by them, or can be, against the evidence of his senses? PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED. 231 Entreated, opening wide his beak, My friends! be cautious how ye treat I fear we shall have winter yet. A Finch, whose tongue knew no control, A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried By his good will would keep us single Or (which is likelier to befall) Till death exterminate us all. My dear Dick Redcap, what say you? Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling, Turning short round, strutting, and sideling, Attested, glad, his approbation Of an immediate conjugation. Influenced mightily the rest, All pair'd, and each pair built a nest. But though the birds were thus in haste, The leaves came on not quite so fast, And destiny, that sometimes bears An aspect stern on man's affairs, Grew quarrelsome, and peck'd each other, Parted without the least regret, MORAL. Misses the tale that I relate This lesson seems to carry- |