A LADY HAD GIVEN A SPRIG OF MYRTLE.
BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, L. L. D.
WHAT hopes, what terrors does thy gift create,
Ambiguous emblem of uncertain fate!
The myrtle (ensign of supreme command,
Consign'd by Venus to Melissa's hand)
Not less capricious than a reigning Fair,
Oft favors, oft rejects a lover's pray'r :
In myrtle shades oft sings the happy swain,
In myrtle shades despairing ghosts complain;
The myrtle crowns the happy lovers heads,
Th' unhappy lovers graves the myrtle spreads;
Oh! then the meaning of thy gift impart,
And ease the throbbings of an anxious heart;
Soon must this bough, as you shall fix his doom,
Adorn Philander's head, or grace his tomb.
WITH A PRESENT OF A KNIFE.
A KNIFE, dear Girl, cuts love they say―
Mere modish love, perhaps it may;
For any tool of any kind,
Can sep'rate what was never join'd.
The Knife that cuts our love in two,
Will have much tougher work to do:
Must cut your softness, worth and spirit
Down to the vulgar size of merit;
To level your's with modern taste,
Must cut a world of sense to waste;
And from your single beauty's store,
Clip what would dizen out a score.
The self-same blade from me must sever
Sensation, judgment, sight, for ever;
All mem❜ry of endearments past,
All hope of comforts long to last,
All that makes fourteen years with you,
A Summer ;-and a short one too:
All that affection feels, and fears,
When hours, without you, seem like years.Till that be done (and I'd as soon
Believe this Knife will chip the moon)
Accept my present undeterr'd,
And leave their Proverbs to the herd.
If in a kiss-delicious treat!—
Your lips acknowledge the receipt;
Love, fond of such substantial fare,
And proud to play the glutton there,
All thoughts of cutting will disdain,
Save only cut and come again.'
ANNIVERSARY OF HIS WEDDING-DAY,
WITH A RING, AND THE FOLLOWING LINES.
THEE, MARY, with this ring I wed," So sixteen years ago I said—
Behold another ring!" For what?"
"To wed thee o'er again,-why not?"-
With the FIRST ring I married Youth, Grace, Beauty, Innocence, and Truth; Taste long admir'd, Sense long rever'd: And all my MOLLY THEN appear'd.
If she, by merit since disclos'd,
Prove twice the woman I suppos'd,
I plead that double merit now,
To justify a double vow.
Here then, to-day, (with faith as sure,
With ardor as intense and pure,
As when amidst the rites divine
I took thy troth, and plighted mine)
To thee, sweet girl, my SECOND ring,
A token and a pledge I bring;
With this I wed, till Death us part,
Thy riper virtues to my heart;
These virtues, which, before untry'd,
The wife has added to the bride;
Those virtues, whose progressive claim,
Endearing Wedlock's very name,
My soul enjoys, my song approves,
For Conscience sake, as well as Love's.
For why?—They shew me hour by hour Honor's high thought, Affection's pow'r, Discretion's deed, sound Judgment's sentence: And teach me all things-but Repentance !
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