Go to thy darling, false one! go!
And gaze enraptur'd on her charms,
Sink on her breast of melting snow,
And court her fond luxuriant arms.
Murmur again the ardent vow,
That mingles hope with fond desire, Now paints the lover's wish-and now Beholds a woe-worn wife expire.
I weep not this! my day is o'er,
All I have done, and suffer'd, vain ; Nor pity can my soul implore,
From those who triumph in my pain.
Yet know whene'er thy wish is sped,
When thou canst claim thy bosom's bride,
When she lies number'd with the dead,
Who mourn'd and blest thee till she died;
When thou shalt revel light as air,
And laugh at care, and banish toil,
For her thou lov'st the bliss will share,
And pour a zest on fortune's smile;
Yet come it will, the fatal hour,
When clouds these brilliant scenes o'ercast,
When cank'ring care asserts his pow'r,
Or fiercely blows misfortune's blast.
When keen vexation sours the mind,
Or wild caprice the temper bends,
Or hasty anger, wild and blind,
Where most it loves, there most offends;
Then wilt thou learn too late, how dear
That patient spirit wont to be,
Whose love, submissive as sincere,
Endur'd each angry taunt from thee.
Who, proud thy virtues to reveal,
Thy genius or thy wit to scan,
And wise thy failings to conceal,
In the beloved shew'd the man.
Whose friendship active, constant, mild,
Found thee when wreck'd on sorrow's coast,
Stoop'd to thee humble as a child,
And yet upheld thee as an host.
Who, when her dearest hopes were flown,
And thou wert guilty passion's slave,
Mourn'd o'er thy errors as her own,
And sought to hide them in the grave.
Go to thy darling false one! go!
The storms of life around thee howl,
And thou shalt find her heart is snow,
And dark as Erebus her soul.
She who to confidence like mine,
Could coolly act so base a part,
Was never form'd to blend with thine,
A faulty, but a noble heart.
Oh! when I think on what thou art,
On what my soul to make thee strove,
Fresh tears of agony will start,
And angry sorrow melt to love.
Go, false one! lov'd one! learn to know
The anguish thou hast bade me feel,
Learn disappointment's ruthless blow,
More poignant than the venom'd steel.
Learn jealous love's impetuous woes,
And blighted hope's corroding grief,
The pang ingratitude bestows,
And dark despair that spurns relief.
But by my griefs, an endless train,
Nay, by my very wrongs, I swear—
To see thee suffer is a pain,
I cannot !-No! I cannot bear.
NOV. 22, 1798.
FROM THE GREEK
τὸ ρόδον κ. τ. λ.
How fragrant blows
That lovely rose!
I'll gather it to-morrow:
I came; but to my sorrow
The leaves had fallen before I could return;
And where the rose had been, I found a thorn.
AT HIGHGATE, MIDDLESEX, JULY 9, 1810.
was a spectacle of hallow'd joy,
Though tears it drew from fond parental eyes,
To see the fair resort of either sex
From hamlets round convening, and before
The temple porch of their celestial Lord
Assembled, greeting each with chasten'd mien ;
The youths all neatness, and the vestal train
In whitest garb of saintly innocence
Waiting the reverend prelate ;-eager all
To ratify their Christian covenant,
And in the sweet untainted spring of life,
(Most grateful to the God of holiness)
By early vow to dedicate themselves
Unto their Maker; and to seal that vow
In presence of their pastors and their friends.
A verger first appears with mitred mace;
The concourse cluster, and in sidelong rows
Border the pathway from the church-yard gate.
At that the Prelate enters, and he seems
As one commission'd from a heavenly sphere
To breathe salvation, and the earthly pure
In heart and mind to render purer still.
He passes through the portal, and his flock
Press close behind, as if his very robe
Held secret virtue. To their seats beneath
The sacred dome with hasten'd step they move,
While the loud organ peals its swelling chords
To welcome in the pious votaries.
It ceases: for the holy man his charge
Assumes; and from their seats all rise. Himself,
Within the sacramental rail enclos'd,
Greets his fair fold with gentle dignity;
Bland admonition wafting on the ear,
That it may dwell in the retentive thought.
He trusts this goodly throng of youthful saints,
Here met to testify a firm belief
In their Redeemer's love, will boldly dare
To struggle with temptation, and put on
The panoply of Him who did repel
The wiles of Satan, that so each may cast
Far off the works of darkness, and still live
As fitteth the "redeemed of the Lord."
So need they never fear His tender care
Will, from the powers of darkness, rescue them,
And be their safe-guard, if they own his sway,
Whose" yoke is easy, and his burden light."
A glow of high resolve, and ardent hope,
Beam'd o'er the face of every candidate
For confirmation; and like glow diffus'd
O'er those who came as guardian-witnesses.
Mean time, a vestur'd priest the rubric reads
Which prefaces this ghostly ordinance :
The Prelate then his awful question asks-
" Do
ye, before the presence of your God
"And of this congregation, here renew
"The solemn and baptismal promise made
"In all your names, when ye were infants all;
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