Maria weeps-The Muses mourn- On Thracian Hebrus' side The tree-enchanter Orpheus fell, The cruel death he died. 66 THE ROSE. THE rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a show'r, Which Mary to Anna convey'd, The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flow'r, And weigh'd down it's beautiful head. The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, And it seem'd to a fanciful view, To weep for the buds it had left with regret, On the flourishing bush where it grew. I hastily seiz'd it, unfit as it was For a nosegay, so dripping and drown'd, And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part, Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, Might have bloom'd with it's owner a while, And the tear, that is wip'd with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile. 10 20 THE DOVES. REAS'NING at ev'ry step he treads, Man yet mistakes his way, While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray. One silent eve I wander'd late, The turtle thus address'd her mate, And sooth'd the list'ning dove; Our mutual bond of faith and truth No time shall disengage, Those blessings of our early youth Shall cheer our latest age: 10 While innocence without disguise, Shall fill the circles of those eyes, And mine can read them there; Those ills, that wait on all below, Or gently felt, and only so, As being shar'd with thee. When lightnings flash among the trees, Or kites are hov'ring near, I fear lest thee alone they seize, And know no other fear. "Tis then I feel myself a wife, Resolv'd a union form'd for life 20 But oh! if, fickle and unchaste, Thou could become unkind at last, No need of lightning from on high, Denied th' endearments of thine eye, 30 Thus sang the sweet sequester'd bird, Soft as the passing wind, And I recorded what I heard, A lesson for mankind. 40 |