Far, in a wilderness obscure
The lonely mansion lay
A refuge to the neighbouring poor,
And strangers led astray.
No stores beneath its humble thatch
Requir'd a master's care;
The wicket, opening with a latch,
Received the harmless pair.
And now, when busy crowds retire
To take their evening rest,
The hermit trimm'd his little fire,
And cheer'd his pensive guest;
And spread his vegetable store,
And gaily press'd, and smil'd;
And, skill'd in legendary lore,
The lingering hours beguiled.
Around, in sympathetic mirth
Its tricks the kitten tries-
The cricket chirrups in the hearth
The crackling faggot flies;
But, nothing could a charm impart
To soothe the stranger's woe—
For grief was heavy at his heart,
And tears began to flow.
His rising cares the hermit spiedWith answering care oppress'd; "And whence, unhappy youth," he cried, "The sorrows of thy breast?
"From better habitations spurn'd,
Reluctant dost thou rove?
Or grieve for friendship unreturn'd,
Or unregarded love?
"Alas! the joys that fortune brings Are trifling, and decay
And those who prize the paltry things, More trifling still than they;
"And what is friendship but a name,
A charm that lulls to sleep-
A shade that follows wealth or fame,
And leaves the wretch to weep?
“And love is still an emptier sound—
The modern fair-one's jest ;
On earth unseen, or only found
To warm the turtle's nest.
"For shame, fond youth, thy sorrows hushAnd spurn the sex," he said:
But while he spoke, a rising blush
His love-lorn guest betray'd.
Surpris'd he sees new beauties rise,
Swift mantling to the view-
Like colours o'er the morning skies,
As bright, as transient too.
The bashful look, the rising breast,
Alternate spread alarms:
The lovely stranger stands confess'd,
A maid in all her charms.
"And, ah! forgive a stranger rude,
A wretch forlorn," she cried-
"Whose feet unhallow'd thus intrude.
Where heaven and you reside;
"But let a maid thy pity share,
Whom love has taught to stray-
Who seeks for rest, but finds despair
Companion of her way.
My father lived beside the Tyne
A wealthy lord was he;
And all his wealth was mark'd as mine;
He had but only me.
"To win me from his tender arms
Unnumber'd suitors came;
Who praised me for imputed charms,
And felt or feign'd a flame.
“Each hour a mercenary crowd
With richest proffers strove;
Among the rest young Edwin bow'd-
But never talk'd of love.
In humble, simplest habit clad,
No wealth or power had he;
Wisdom and worth were all he had-
But these were all to me.
And when, beside me in the dale,
He carol'd lays of love,
His breath lent fragrance to the gale,
And music to the grove."
"The blossom opening to the day,
The dews of heaven refined,
Could nought of purity display
To emulate his mind.
"The dew, the blossom on the tree, With charms inconstant shine; Their charms were his; but, woe to me,
Their constancy was mine.
"For still I tried each fickle art,
Importunate and vain;
And while his passion touch'd my heart, I triumph'd in his pain.
"Till quite dejected with my scorn,
He left me to my pride;
And sought a solitude forlorn,
In secret, where he died.
"But mine the sorrow, mine the fault,
And well my life shall pay;
I'll seek the solitude he sought,
And stretch me where he lay.
"And there, forlorn, despairing, hid-
I'll lay me down and die;
'Twas so for me that Edwin did,
And so for him will I."
"Forbid it, heaven!" the hermit cried, And clasp'd her to his breast:
The wondering fair one turn'd to chide→→→ 'Twas Edwin's self that press'd.
"Turn, Angelina! ever dear-
My charmer, turn to see
Thy own, thy long-lost Edwin, here,
Restored to love and thee.
"Thus let me hold thee to my heart,
And every care resign;
And shall we never, never part,
My life my all that's mine?
"No, never, from this hour to part,
We'll live and love so true;
The sigh that rends thy constant heart
Shall break thy Edwin's too."
THE DOUBLE TRANSFORMATION.
SECLUDED from domestic strife,
Jack Book-worm led a college life;
A fellowship, at twenty-five
Made him the happiest man alive;
He drank his glass, and crack'd his joke,
And freshmen wonder'd as he spoke.
Such pleasures, unalloy'd with care,
Could any accident impair ?
Could Cupid's shaft at length transfix
Our swain, arrived at thirty-six ?
O had the archer ne'er come down
To ravage in a country town;
Or Flavia been content to stop
At triumphs in a Fleet-street shop!
Or had her eyes forgot to blaze!
Or Jack had wanted eyes to gaze.
Oh!-but let exclamation cease;
Her presence banish'd all his peace:
So, with decorum all things carried,
Miss frown'd, and blush'd, and then was-married.
Need we expose to vulgar sight
The raptures of the bridal night?
Need we intrude on hallow'd ground,
Or draw the curtains closed around?
Let it suffice that each had charms:
He clasp'd a goddess in his arms;
And, though she felt his usage rough,
Yet in a man 'twas well enough.
The honey-moon like light'ning flew;
The second brought its transports too;
A third, a fourth, were not amiss;
The fifth was friendship mix'd with bliss;
But when a twelvemonth pass'd away,
Jack found his goddess made of clay;
Found half the charms that deck'd her face
Arose from powder, shreds, or lace;
But still the worst remain'd behind-
That very face had robb'd her mind.
Skill'd in no other arts was she
But dressing, patching, repartee;
And, just as humour rose or fell,
By turns a slattern or a belle.
"Tis true she dress'd with modern grace-
Half naked at a ball or race;
But when at home, at board or bed,
Five greasy night-caps wrapp'd her head.
Could so much beauty condescend
To be a dull domestic friend?
Could any curtain lectures bring
To decency so fine a thing?
In short-by night, 'twas fits or fretting;
By day, 'twas gadding or coquetting.
Fond to be seen, she kept a bevy
Of powder'd coxcombs at her levee;
The 'squire and captain took their stations,
And twenty other near relations.
Jack suck'd his pipe, and often broke
A sigh in suffocating smoke;
While all their hours were past between
Insulting repartee or spleen.
Thus, as her faults each day were known,
He thinks her features coarser grown:
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