TO. ON HER BIRTH-DAY, JAN. 1808. Amid each WHILE Hope half sunk beneath successive fears When blest beyond the lot of man I see My every Say, shall I brood indifferent o'er that fate, wish at length obtain'd-in thee; From which alone my bliss must take its date? Behold unmov'd thy natal morn appear, Nor bless the hour that owns a birth so dear? Long, very long, may this auspicious morn Rich in the purest joys that life bestows, Yet should just Heaven a different lot ordain, W. P. TO MRS. T.... ON READING HER BEAUTIFUL POEM OF PAYCHE OR THE LEGEND OF LOVE. WH HEN feeling, taste, and genius all conspire For who shall paint her worth, whose matchless mind, Blest page! where, whilst the varied graces shine, 'Tis thine to bid incautious virtue fly The paths, where fell deceits in ambush move, Ambition's lure, Suspicion's venom'd eye;— -And prize the calmer sweets of social love. For thee, sweet muse, whose artless strains display The joys which virtue, science, truth impart. These, while the lighter pleasures of the hour EPIGRAM. FROM OWEN. LIB. V. EP. VI. ORPHEUS, his wife to snatch from Hell, Its utmost horrors brav'd; But never yet did Poet tell E* W. P. EPIGRAM. To lady Sarah's t'other night I went an hour to spend; "Who is that man, round whom appears Such an admiring crowd, Who catch his tale with eager ears, And often laugh aloud? "How ready every mortal looks With bows and smiles to greet him! By all the good and holy books They seem as if they'd eat him! "He has some charm! What's his condition} Come tell me, if you know it. Say, is he traveller, politician, Wit, orator, or poet ?" "No, he is more, far more, than these, With all their powers combin'd to please, "His praises many a tongue shall swell, He is!" "What is he? quickly tell!" R. A. D. FAITH AND AFFECTION *. FAST by the shores of England lay But far across the ocean borne, For well, no friend nor home, he knew, He, thoughtless once of future time, *The circumstances of these lines were stated in the newspapers and magazines about a year ago. The boy came from the Cape of Good Hope in one of his Majesty's ships the Zealand, then lying at the Nore, as servant to an Officer on board, and was known to be possessed with the faith of his country. |