AN E LEGY

On the DEATH of a LINNET.

WEET bird! whofe gently warbled lay

SW

On Fancy's trembling pinions borne,

Still melts th' attending foul away,
Still hails the rofy-featured morn.

Where flits unloos'd th' aërial mind,
That once inform'd thy tuneful frame?
Mounts it elate the whistling wind?
Or rides the bright noon's ftreamy flame?

Or on the bleak heath wails alone,
Or haunts the deep-embowering grove,
Breathes on the gale its dying moan,
And pours the plaint of hopeless love?

Hark! what sweet voice falutes my ear!
What folemn note that tells of woe!
I fee the little mourner near!

Thus ftreams its mufic from the bough.

Why feel the tenants of the plain,
An harmless race, the general doom?
Why Innocence, thy fpotlefs train,
Why left to fill the filent tomb ?

Scarce taught with genial warmth to glow,
As on the downy couch I lay;

Sprung on my fight th' exulting foe,
And bore elate his helpless prey.

Nought then avail'd a Parent's pray'er,
Nought the wild Mother's mournful cry;
Vain was the fhriek that spoke despair,
An vain the mute imploring eye.

Ah, why! in fimple garb array'd,
O'er me no fpangling tints were seen,
Nor circling fcarlet crown'd my head,
Nor flam'd my plumes with lucid green.

Some bird in mantling azure bright,
Some gayer form thy cage may hold;
Whofe fparkling eye reflects the light,
Whofe plumage gleams with downy gold.

Slow roll'd the lingering hour away,
The trembling wing oft try'd to foar;

Oppreffion

Oppreffion mock'd its faint essay,
And Bondage barr'd her iron door.

Can Mufic foothe the deafned ear?
Will Hope's gay dream repel the tide ?
Will Pray'r recal the diftant year?
Or Pity touch the heart of Pride?

To fofter chains at laft confign'd,
'Twas joy to please the listening fair
I fought no more to mount the wind,
But paid with fongs their tender care.

No more a prey to vain defire,

I fcorn'd the tenants of the wood Hopp'd gaily round the circling wire, And peck'd the hand that lent my food.

But, Death!-abrupt along the gale, Dy'd on the ear the diftant moan; The Mourner fought the filent vale, Lurk'd in the shade, and wail'd alone.

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AN EVENING PIECE*.

OW o'er the western skies, defcending Eve Spread her grey robe, the folitary Hour To Silence facred and deep-mufing Thought Came fweetly ferious on the balmy gale, And stole the ear of Wisdom :-all was ftill, Save where flow-trilling from the mantling bough Night's plaintive warbler, to the echoing vale Pour'd her love-labour'd note: mellifluous lay! Sweet as the voice of Mufic, when she calls The fluttering Zephirs to expand their wings, And breathe it to the foul. The melting strains Thus foothed by throbbing bofom to a calm.

LED by revolving thought, my wandering steps Explored the vale of Solitude, retired Like that where Ancient Druids liv'd remote Converfing with the moon ;-and airy fhapes (So Fame reports) beneath the wan dim ray Sweep fhadowy o'er the dusky lawn, or foar High on the freamy flame, or ride the winds, Or hear the murmuring flood, when Darkness wraps Her cloudy curtain round the world, and Fear

Knocks

* Thefe verses form a part of the introduction of an Allegorical Poem not yet publifel.

Knocks at the heart of man. Such is the haunt
Of fairy trains, when filver tips the grove;
That on the lily's ruffling bells difport,
Or hear the wild whiftle, or repofed

Lie on the daisy's downy lap, or spring,

Light as the glancing beam, from flower to flower,
And fuck the powdering of a cowflip's eye,

And drink the pearly dew.-Thro' this lone shade
Wrapt deep in thought that pain'd at once and charm'd,
I rov'd with devious ftep; nor heard the rill
That murmur'd fweet, nor liften'd to the gale
That kifs'd the bending thyme, and from its wings
Shook all Arabia's fragrance thro' the air.

I GAZED in awful filence on the scene Fann'd with the breath of dewy-finger'd Eve; And felt the stream of deep delightful thought Come full and copious on my fwelling foul That thrill'd in every nerve." Hail, Ye lone fhades," (I thus began) " Ye woods, and streams, and groves "Where Beauty loves to fport! where meck-eyed

Peace

"Diffolves on flowers luxuriant; where the foot

"Of Quiet prints the devious wild; where Love "And Pleasure leaning on the hand of Hope

Fledge their celeftial wings, and eye the fkies.

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