TO A FRIEND ON HIS MARRIAGE. On thee, blest youth, a father's hand confers The maid thy earliest, fondest wishes knew. As on she moves with hesitating grace, Smiles thro' her blushes, and confirms the choice. Spare the fine tremors of her feeling frame! At each response the sacred rite requires, And on her lips the trembling accents die. O'er her fair face what wild emotions play! And settled sunshine on her soul descend! Ah soon, thine own confest, ecstatic thought! And those blue eyes, with mildest lustre fraught, Gild the calm current of domestic hours! THE ALPS AT DAY-BREAK. THE sun-beams streak the azure skies, And line with light the mountain's brow : With hounds and horns the hunters rise, And chase the roebuck thro' the snow. From rock to rock, with giant-bound, Mute, lest the air, convulsed by sound, The goats wind slow their wonted way, And while the torrent thunders loud, * There are passes in the Alps, where the guides tell you to move on with speed, and say nothing, lest the agitation of the air should loosen the snows above. IMITATION OF AN ITALIAN SONNET. Love, under Friendship's vesture white, Laughs, his little limbs concealing; And oft in sport, and oft in spite, Like Pity meets the dazzled sight, Smiles thro' his tears revealing. But now as Rage the God appears! He frowns, and tempests shake his frame !— Frowning, or smiling, or in tears, 'Tis Love; and Love is still the same. A CHARACTER. As thro' the hedge-row shade the violet steals, And the sweet air its modest leaf reveals; Her softer charms, but by their influence known, Surprise all hearts, and mould them to her own. |