To her lover's throbbing breast- SYMPATHY. TO JULIA. -sine me sit nulla Venus.-Sulpicia. OUR hearts, my love, were doomed to be How often have I heard thee say, And, oh! how often in those eyes, In dewy vernal weather How often have I raptured read The burning glance, that silent said, "Now, love, we feel together!" TO JULIA. I SAW the peasant's hand unkind Not so the widowed ivy shines: And scatters all its blooms away! Thus, Julia, did our hearts entwine, ON THE DEATH OF A LADY. SWEET spirit! if thy airy sleep Nor sees my tears, nor hears my sighs, Oh! I will weep, in luxury weep, Till the last heart's-drop fills mine eyes. And mingles in our misery; Thou wert not formed for living here, We thought thou wert not formed to die! WRITTEN IN THE BLANK LEAF OF A LADY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK. HERE is one leaf reserved for me, TO ROSA. LIKE who trusts to summer skies, And sadly may the bark be tost; TO ROSA. OH! why should the girl of my soul be in tears When the glooms of the past and the sorrow of years Are they shed for that moment of blissful delight. Which dwells on her memory yet? Do they flow, like the dews of the amorous night, From the warmth of the sun that has set? Oh! sweet is the tear on that languishing smile, That smile, which is loveliest then; And if such are the drops that delight can beguile, Thou shalt weep them again and again! RONDEAU. "GOOD night! good night!"—And is it so? And must I from my Rosa go? O Rosa! say "Good night!" once more, Till the first glance of dawning light And still "Good night," my Rosa, say~ And murmur, while we kiss, "Good night!" "Good night!" you'll murmur with a sigh, And tell me it is time to fly: And I will vow to kiss no more, Yet kiss you closer than before; Till slumber seal our weary sight And then, my love! my soul! "Good night!" TO ROSA. WRITTEN DURING ILLNESS. THE wisest soul, by anguish torn, But love's an essence of the soul, Which sinks not with this chain of clay : And surely, when the touch of Death Shall be its best of blisses then! And, as in fabled dreams of old, And tracked it through its path sublime; So thou, fair planet, not unled, Shalt through thy mortal orbit stray; Thy lover's shade, divinely wed, Shall linger round thy wandering way. Let other spirits range the sky, And, oh! if airy shapes may steal ANACREONTIC. in lachrymas verterat omne merum.—Tib. lib. i. eleg. 5 PRESS the grape, and let it pour Around the board its purple shower; Weep on, weep on, my pouting vine ! ANACREONTIC. FRIEND of my soul ! this goblet sip. It leaves no sting behind! Come, twine the wreath, thy brows to shade; Like woman's love the rose will fade, But, ah! not half so soon! For though the flower's decayed, The heart can bloom no more! CHARITY. "Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more!" O WOMAN! if by simple wile St. John, chap. viii. Thy soul has strayed from honour's track, 'Tis mercy only can beguile, By gentle ways, the wanderer back. The stain that on thy virtue lies, Washed by thy tears, may yet decay; Go, go-be innocent, and live The tongues of men may wound thee sore; But Heaven in pity can forgive, And bids thee "go, and sin no more!" LOVE AND MARRIAGE. Eque brevi verbo ferre perenne malum. Secundus, eleg, vi. STILL the question I must parry, Were she fairest of creation, With the least presuming mind: Not deceitful, yet refined; Wise enough, but never rigid ; Were she all this ten times over, All that Heaven to earth allows, Love will never bear enslaving; |