Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

VII.

His ubi fedatus furor eft, petit utraque nympham,
Qualem inter Veneres Anglia fola parit ;
Hanc penés imperium eft,nihil optant amplius,hujus
Regnant in nitidis, et fine lite, genis.

THE

NIGHTINGALE AND GLOW-WORM.

A NIGHTINGALE, that all day long
Had cheer'd the village with his fong,
Nor yet at eve his note fufpended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,
Began to feel, as well he might,
The keen demands of appetite;
When, looking eagerly around,
He spied far off, upon the ground,
A fomething fhining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his fpark;
So, ftooping down from hawthorn top,
He thought to put him in his crop.
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangu'd him thus, right eloquent-

Did you admire my lamp, quoth he,
As much as I your minstrelsy,

You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your fong;
For 'twas the self-fame pow'r divine
Taught you to fing, and me to fhine;
That you with mufic, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night..
The fongfter heard his short oration,
And, warbling out his approbation,
Releas'd him, as my story tells,
And found a fupper fomewhere else.
Hence jarring fectaries may learn
Their real int'reft to difcern;

That brother should not war with brother,
And worry and devour each other;

But fing and shine by sweet confent,

Till life's poor tranfient night is spent,
Refpecting in each other's cafe

The gifts of nature and of grace.

Thofe Chriftians beft deferve the name Who ftudiously make peace their aim; Peace, both the duty and the prize Of him that creeps and him that flies..

VOTU M.

O MATUTINI rores, auræque falubres,
O nemora, et lætæ rivis felicibus herbæ,
Graminei colles, et amænæ in vallibus umbræ !
Fata modò dederint quas olim in rure paterno
Delicias, procul arte, procul formidine novi,
Quam vellem ignotus, quod mens mea femper

avebat,

Ante larem proprium placidam expectare fenectam,
Tum demùm, exactis non infeliciter annis,
Sortiri tacitum lapidem, aut fub cespite condi!

ON A GOLDFINCH

STARVED то DEATH IN HIS CAGE.

I.

TIME was when I was free as air,

The thiftles downy feed my fare,

My drink the morning dew;

I perch'd at will on ev'ry spray,
My form genteel, my plumage gay,
My ftrains for ever new.

II.

But gaudy plumage, fprightly strain,

And form genteel, were all in vain,

And of a tranfient date;

For, caught and cag'd, and ftarv'd to death,
In dying fighs my little breath

Soon pafs'd the wiry grate.

III.

Thanks, gentle fwain, for all my woes,

And thanks for this effectual clofe

And cure of ev'ry ill!

More cruelty could none express;
And I, if you had shown me less,
Had been your pris'ner ftill.

THE PINE-APPLE AND THE BEE.

THE pine-apples, in triple row,

Were basking hot, and all in blow;
A bee of moft difcerning taste

Perceiv'd the fragrance as he pafs'd,

On eager wing the spoiler came,

And fearch'd for crannies in the frame,
Urg'd his attempt on ev'ry fide,

To ev'ry pane his trunk applied;
But ftill in vain, the frame was tight,
And only pervious to the light;
Thus having wafted half the day,
He trimm'd his flight another way.
Methinks, I faid, in thee I find
The fin and madnefs of mankind.
To joys forbidden man aspires,
Confumes his foul with vain defires;
Folly the fpring of his pursuit,
And disappointment all the fruit.
While Cynthio ogles as the paffes

The nymph between two chariot glaffes,

She is the pine-apple, and he

The filly unfuccessful bee.

The maid, who views with pensive air
The fhow-glafs fraught with glitt'ring ware,
Sees watches, bracelets, rings, and lockets,
But fighs at thought of empty pockets;
Like thine, her appetite is keen,
But ab, the cruel glass between!

« ПредишнаНапред »