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140

CONSTANCY - INCONSTANCY.

18. I lov'd thee in thy spring-time's blushing hour,-
I lov'd thee in thy summer's ripen'd noon-
I lov'd thee in the blossom, bud, and flower-
The tear of April, and the smile of June :-
Fear not, then, fear not any hour will see
The heart grow cold that ever beats for thee!

19. With a kiss my vow was greeted
As I knelt before thy shrine;
But I saw that kiss repeated
On another lip than mine:
And a solemn vow was spoken

That thy heart should not be chang'd;
But that binding vow was broken,
And thy spirit was estrang'd.

20. Though youth be past, and beauty fled,
The constant heart its pledge redeems,
Like box that guards the flowerless bed,
And brighter from the contrast seems.

21. Thou art fickle as the sea,

Thou art wandering as the wind,
And the restless, ever-mounting flames
Are not more hard to bind.

22. Inconstant! are the waters so

That fall in showers on hill and plain,
Then, tired of what they find below,
Ride on the sunbeams back again?

23. There is nothing but death Our affection can sever, And till life's latest breath

Love shall bind us for ever.

J. O. ROCKWELL.

MRS. S. J. HALE.

W. C. BRYANT.

J. G. PERCIVAL.

24. Where'er thou journeyest, or whate'er thy care, My heart shall follow, and my spirit share.

MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.

25. The finger of love, on my innermost heart,

Wrote thy name, O adored! when my feelings were young;
And the record shall 'bide till my soul shall depart,
And the darkness of death o'er my being be flung.

W. H. BURLEIGH.

CONTEMPLATION-REFLECTION.

1. Thus ev'ry object of creation

Can furnish hints for contemplation,
And, from the most minute and mean,
A virtuous mind can morals glean.

GAY's Fables.

2. 'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours,
And ask them what report they've borne to heaven,
And how they might have borne more welcome news.
YOUNG'S Night Thoughts.

3. A soul without reflection, like a pile

Without inhabitant, to ruin runs.

YOUNG'S Night Thoughts.

4. Thanks to the human heart, by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts, that do often lie too deep for tears.

5.

WORDSWORTH.

Mount on Contemplation's wings,
And mark the causes and the ends of things;
Learn what we are, and for what purpose born,
What station here 't is given us to adorn ;
How best to blend security with ease,

And win our way thro' life's tempestuous seas.

GIFFORD'S Perseus.

142

6.

7.

CONTEMPT - SCORN.

It is fine

To stand upon some lofty mountain thought,
And feel the spirit stretch into a view.

Within the deep,

Still chambers of the heart, a spectre dim,

BAILEY'S Festus.

Whose tones are like the wizard voice of Time,
Heard from the tombs of ages, points its cold
And solemn finger to the beautiful

And holy visions that have past away,

And left no shadow of their loveliness

On the dead waste of life.

GEORGE D. PRENTICE.

CONTEMPT - SCORN.

1. Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes.

2.

3.

Infamous wretch !

So much below my scorn, I dare not kill thee!

He hears

On all sides, from innumerable tongues,

A dismal, universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn.

4. Derision shall strike thee forlorn,

SHAKSPEARE.

DRYDEN.

MILTON'S Paradise Lost.

A mock'ry that never shall die;

The curses of hate, and the hisses of scorn,
Shall burthen the winds of the sky;
And, proud o'er thy ruin, for ever be hurl'd,
The laughter of triumph, the jeers of the world.

5. Thou may'st from law, but not from scorn escape;
The pointed finger, cold, averted eye,
Insulted virtue's hiss-thou canst not fly.

BYRON.

CHARLES SPRAGUE.

6.

7.

Pardon is for men,

And not for reptiles-we have none for Steno,
And no resentment; things like him must sting,
And higher beings suffer; 't is the charter

Of life. The man, who dies by the adder's pang,
May have the crawler crush'd, but feels no anger:
"T was the worm's nature; and some men are worms
In soul, more than the living things of tombs.

BYRON'S Marino Faliero.

And would'st thou turn,

Like one contemn'd, to seek for more contempt!

RUFUS DAWES.

CONTENTMENT-DISCONTENT.

1. O! who can lead, then, a more happy life,
Than he, that, with clean mind and heart sincere,
No greedy riches knows, nor bloody strife?

2. The remnant of his days he safely past,

Nor found they lagg'd too slow, nor flew too fast;
He made his wish with his estate comply,
Joyful to live, yet not afraid to die.

3. Still falling out with this and this,

And finding something still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetic
Than dog distract or monkey sick.

SPENSER.

PRIOR.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

4. Peace, brother, be not over-exquisite
To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;
For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown,
What need a man forestall his date of grief,
And run to meet what he would most avoid?

MILTON'S Comus.

144

CONTENTMENT - DISCONTENT.

5. For who did ever yet, by honour, wealth,

Or pleasure of the sense, Contentment find?
Who ever ceas'd to wish, when he had health,
Or, having Wisdom, was not vex'd in mind?
DAVIES' Immortality of the Soul.

6. The lion crav'd the fox's art;

The fox the lion's force and heart;
The cock implor'd the pigeon's flight,
Whose wings were rapid, strong, and light;
The pigeon strength of wing despis'd,
And the cock's matchless valour priz'd.
The fishes wish'd to graze the plain;
The beasts to skim beneath the main.
Thus, envious of another's state,
Each blam'd the partial hand of fate.

7. Sour discontent, that quarrels with our fate,
May give fresh smart, but not the old abate;
The uneasy passion's disingenuous wit,
The ill reveals, but hides the benefit.

GAY's Fables.

SIR R. BLACKMORE.

8. He, fairly looking into life's account,
Saw frowns and favours were of like amount;
And viewing all-his perils, prospects, purse—
He said, "Content-'t is well it is no worse."

9. With careless eyes he views the proud,
In splendid robes profusely drest,
Nor heeds the dull, censorious crowd,
By fortune's fickle goddess blest.

CRABBE.

Gentleman's Magazine.

10. What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hodden gray, and a' that?

Gie fools their silk, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that.

BURNS.

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