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For
your

dear little lips, to their destiny true,
ELEGIAC STANZAS,

Seem'd to know they were born for the use of anSUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY JULIA ON THE

other; DEATH OF HER BROTHER.

And, to put me in mind of what I ought to do, THOUGH sorrow long has worn my heart ;

Were eternally biting and kissing each other. Though every day I've counted o'er Has brought a new and quickening smart

And then you were darting from eyelids so sly,

Half To wounds that rankled fresh before;

open, half shutting,—such tremulous light:

Let them say what they will, I could read in your eye Though in my earliest life bereft

More comical things than I ever shall write.
Of many a link by nature tied ;
Though hope deceived, and pleasure left ;

And oft, as we mingled our legs and our feet,
Though friends betray'd, and foes belied ;

I felt a pulsation, and cannot tell whether

In yours or in mine—but I know it was sweet, I still had hopes—for hope will stay

And I think we both felt it and trembled together. After the sunset of delight ; So like the star which ushers day,

At length when arrived, at our supper we sat, We scarce can think it heralds night!

I heard with a sigh, which had something of pain,

That perhaps our last moment of meeting was that. I hoped that, after all its strife,

And Fanny should go back to Timmol again. My weary heart at length should rest, And, fainting from the waves of life,

Yet I swore not that I was in love with you Fanny, Find harbour in a brother's breast.

Oh, no! for I felt it could never be true;

I but said—what I've said very often to manyThat brother's breast was warm with truth,

There's few I would rather be kissing than you. Was bright with honour's purest ray; He was the dearest, gentlest youth

Then first did I learn that you once had believed Oh! why then was he torn away ?

Some lover, the dearest and falsest of men ;

And so gently you spoke of the youth who deceived, He should have stay'd, have linger'd here, To calm his Julia's every woe;

That I thought you perhaps might be templed He should have chased each bitter tear,

again. And not have caused those tears to flow.

But you told me that passion a moment amu

imused,

Was follow'd too oft by an age of repenting ; We saw his youthful soul expand In blooms of genius, nursed by taste;

And check'd me so softly that, while you refused, While Science, with a fostering hand,

Forgive me, dear girl, if I thought 't was consenting! Upon his brow her chaplet placed.

And still I entreated, and still you denied, We saw his gradual opening mind

Till I almost was made to believe you sincere; Enrich'd by all the graces dear;

Though I found that, in bidding me leave you, you Enlighten'd, social, and refined,

sigh'd, In friendship firm, in love sincere,

And when you repulsed me, 't was done with a

tear. Such was the youth we loved so well; Such were the hopes that fate denied

In vain did I whisper, “There 's nobody nigh;" We loved, but, ah! we could not tell

In vain with the tremors of passion implore; How deep, how dearly, till he died !

Your excuse was a kiss, and a tear your reply

I acknowledged them both, and I ask'd for no Close as the fondest links could strain,

Twined with my very heart he grew ; And by that fate which breaks the chain,

Was I right?-oh! I cannot believe I was wrong. The heart is almost broken too!

Poor Fanny is gone back to Timmol again ; And may Providence guide her uninjured along,

Nor scatter her path with repentance and pain !
FANNY OF TIMMOL.

By Heaven! I would rather for ever forswear
A MAIL-COACH ADVENTURE.

The Elysium that dwells on a beautiful breast,

Than alarm for a moment the peace that is there, Quadrigis petimus bene vivere. Horace. Or banish the dove from so hallow'd a nest !

more.

Sweet Fanny of Timmol! when first you came in

To the close little carriage in which I was hurl'd, I thought to myself, if it were not a sin,

I could teach you the prettiest tricks in the world.

a

A NIGHT THOUGHT.
How oft a cloud with envious veil,

Obscures your bashful light,
Which seems so modestly to steal

Along the waste of night!

limits of distich and stanza, it allows an interesting suspension of the sentiment.-E.

"T is thus the world's obtrusive wrongs

Obscure with malice keen
Some timid heart, which only longs

To live and die unseen!

ELEGIAC STANZAS.

Sic juvat perire.

And you may down that path-way rove,

While I shall take my way through this. Our hearts have suffer'd little harm

In this short fever of desire ; You have not lost a single charm,

Nor I one spark of feeling fire. My kisses have not stain'd the rose

Which Nature hung upon your lip ; And still your sigh with nectar flows

For many a raptured soul to sip. Farewell! and when some other fair

Shall call your wanderer to her arms, 'T will be my luxury to compare

Her spells with your remember'd charms “ This cheek,” I'll say, “is not so bright As one that used to meet my kiss;

has not such liquid light
As one that used to talk of bliss !"

WHEN wearied wretches sink to sleep,

How heavenly soft their slumbers lie! How sweet is death to those who weep,

To those who weep and long to die !

This eye

Saw you the soft and grassy bed,

Where flow'rets deck the green earth's breast? "T is there I wish to lay my head,

"T is there I wish to sleep at rest ! Oh ! let not tears embalm my tomb,

None but the dews by twilight given ! Oh! let not sighs disturb the gloom,

None but the whispering winds of Heaven!

Farewell! and when some future lover

Shall claim the heart which I resign, And in exulting joys discover

All the charms that once were mine; I think I should be sweetly blest,

If, in a soft imperfect sigh,
You'd say, while to his bosom prest,

He loves not half so well as I!

THE KISS. Grow to my lip, thou sacred kiss,

On which my soul's beloved swore That there should come a time of bliss

When she would mock my hopes no more; And fancy shall thy glow renew,

In sighs at morn, and dreams at night, And none shall steal thy holy dew

Till thou 'rt absolved by rapture's rite. Sweet hours that are to make me blest,

Oh! fly, like breezes, to the goal, And let my love, my more than soul,

Come panting to this fever'd breast; And while in every glance I drink

The rich o'erflowings of her mind, Oh! let her all impassion'd sink,

In sweet abandonment resign'd, Blushing for all our struggles past, And murmuring, “I am thine at last !"

A REFLECTION AT SEA. SEE how, beneath the moonbeam's smile,

Yon little billow heaves its breast, And foams and sparkles for a while,

And murmuring then subsides to rest. Thus man, the sport of bliss and care,

Rises on Time's eventful sea;
And, having swell'd a moment there,

Thus melts into eternity!

TO With all my soul, then, let us part,

Since both are anxious to be free; And I will send you home your heart,

If you will send back mine to me.

We've had some happy hours together,

But joy must often change its wing ; And spring would be but gloomy weather,

If we had nothing else but spring.

AN INVITATION TO SUPPER

TO MRS. -
MYSELF, dear Julia ! and the Sun,
Have now two years of rambling run;
And he before his wheels has driven
The grand menagerie of heaven,
While I have met on earth, I swear,
As many brutes as he has there.
The only difference I can see
Betwixt the flaming god and me,
Is, that his ways are periodic,
And mine, I fear, are simply oddic.
But, dearest giri! 't is now a lapse
Of two short years, or less, perhaps,
Since you to me, and I to you,
Vow'd to be ever fondly true!-
Ah, Julia! those were pleasant times !
You loved me for my amorous rhymes ;
And I loved you, because I thought
'Twas so delicious to be taught

"T is not that I expect to find

A more devoted, fond, and true one, With rosier cheek or sweeter mind

Enough for me that she's a new one.

Thus let us leave the bower of love,

Where we have loiter'd long in bliss ;

By such a charming guide as you,
With eyes of fire and lips of dew,
All I had often fancied o'er,
But never, never felt before:
The day flew by, and night was short
For half our blisses, half our sport!
I know not how we chang'd, or why,
Or if the first was you or I:
Yet so 't is now, we meet each other,
And I'm no more than Julia's brother;
While she's so like my prudent sister,
There's few would think how close I've kiss'd her.

While even the planets seem'd to wink,

We kept our vigils of delight ? The heart, that little world of ours,

Unlike the drowsy world of care, Then, then awaked its sweetest powers,

And all was animation there!

Kiss me once more, and then I fly,

Our parting would to noon-day last ; There, close that languid trembling eye,

And sweetly dream of all the past ! As soon as Night shall fix her seal

Upon the eyes and lips of men,
Oh, dearest ! I will panting steal

To nestle in thine arms again!
Our joys shall take their stolen flight,

Secret as those celestial spheres Which make sweet music all the night,

Unheard by drowsy mortal ears !

But, Julia, let those matters pass! If you will brim a sparkling glass To vanish'd hours of true delight, Come to me after dusk to-night. I'll have no other guest to meet you, But here alone I'll tete-a-tete you, Over a little attic feast, As full of cordial soul at least, As those where Delia met Tibullus, Or Lesbia wanton'd with Catullus." I'll sing you many a roguish sonnet About it, at it, and upon it: And songs address'd, as if I loved, To all the girls with whom I've roved. Come, pr’ythee come, you 'll find me here, Like Horace, waiting for his dear.2 There shall not be to-night, on earth, Two souls more elegant in mirth; And, though our hey-day passion 's fled, The spirit of the love that's dead Shall hover wanton o'er our head; Like souls that round the grave will fly, In which their late possessors lie: And who, my pretty Julia, knows, But when our warm remembrance glows, The ghost of Love may act anew, What Love when living used to do!

SONG."
Oh! nothing in life can sadden us,

While we have wine and good humour in store With this, and a little of love to madden us,

Show me the fool that can labour for more! Come, then, bid Ganymede fill every bowl for you,

Fill them up brimmers, and drink as I call : I'm going to toast every nymph of my soul for you,

Ay, on my soul, I'm in love with them all! Dear creatures ! we can't live without them,

They ’re all that is sweet and seducing to man! Looking, sighing about and about them,

We dote on them, die for them, all that we can. Here's Phillis !-whose innocent bosom

Is always agog for some novel desires ; To-day to get lovers, to-morrow to lose 'em,

Is all that the innocent Phillis requires.Here's to the gay little Jessy !-who simpers

So vastly good humour'd, whatever is done; She'll kiss you, and that without whining or whimpers, And do what you please with you—all out of fun!

Dear creatures, etc. A bumper to Fanny S-I know you will scorn her,

Because she's a prude, and her nose is so curl'd; But if ever you chatted with Fan in a corner,

You'd say she's the best little girl in the world! Another to Lyddy still struggling with duty, And asking her conscience still, “ whether she

should ;" While her eyes,

in the silent confession of beauty, Say, “Only for something I certainly would.”

Dear creatures, etc. Fill for Chloe !-bewitchingly simple,

Who angles the heart without knowing her lure; Still wounding around with a blush or a dimple,

Nor seeming to feel that she also could cure !

AN ODE UPON MORNING.

Turn to me, love! the morning rays

Are glowing o'er thy languid charms; Take one luxurious parting gaze,

While yet I linger in thine arms.
'Twas long before the noon of night

I stole into thy bosom, dear!
And now the glance of dawning light

Has found me still in dalliance here. Turn to me, love! the trembling gleams

Of morn along thy white neck stray; Away, away, you envious beams,

I'll chase you with my lips away! Oh! is it not divine to think,

While all around were lull'd in night

1 Cænam, non sine candida puella.

Cat. Carm. xii. 2

puellam Ad mediam noctem expecto.

Hor. lib. i. sat. 5.

1 There are many spurious copies of this song in circulation; and it is universally attributed to a gentleman who has no more right than the Editor of these Poems to any snare whatever in the composition.-E.

Here's pious Susan !--the saint, who alone, sir,

Could ever have made me religious outright: For had I such a dear little saint of my own, sir, I'd pray on my knees to her half the long night!

Dear creatures, etc.

That the oath I might take on it now

The very next glance would undo!
Those babies that nestle so sly

Such different arrows have got,
That an oath, on the glance of an eye

Such as yours, may be off in a shot!
Should I swear by the dew on your lip,

Though each moment the treasure renews, If my constancy wishes to trip,

I may kiss off the oath when I choose! Or a sigh may disperse from that flower

The dew and the oath that are there!
And I'd make a new vow every hour,

To lose them so sweetly in air !
But clear up that heaven of your brow,

Nor fancy my faith is a feather;
On my heart I will pledge you my vow,

And they both must be broken together!

1

COME tell me where the maid is found

Whose heart can love without deceit,
And I will range the world around,

To sigh one moment at her feet.
Oh! tell me where's her sainted home,

What air receives her blessed sigh;
A pilgrimage of years I'll roam

To catch one sparkle of her eye! And, if her cheek be rosy bright,

While truth within her bosom lies, I'll gaze upon her, morn and night,

Till my heart leave me through my eyes! Show me on earth a thing so rare,

I'll own all miracles are true;
To make one maid sincere and fair,

Oh! 't is the utmost Heaven can do!

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SONG.' SWEETEST love! I'll not forget thee;

Time shall only teach my heart, Fonder, warmer, to regret thee, Lovely, gentle as thou art !-

Farewell, Bessy! Yet, oh! yet again we'll meet, love,

Avd repose our hearts at last :
Oh! sure 't will then be sweet, love,
Calm to think on sorrows past. -

Farewell, Bessy!
Yes, my girl, the distant blessing

May n't be always sought in vain ; And the moment of possessingWill't not, love, repay our pain ?

Farewell, Bessy!
Still I feel my heart is breaking,

When I think I stray from thee, Round the world that quiet seeking, Which I fear is not for me!

Farewell, Bessy!
Calm to peace thy lover's bosom-

Can it, dearest! must it be?
Thou within an hour shalt lose him,
He for ever loses thee !

Farewell, Bessy!

JULIA'S KISS. When infant Bliss in roses slept, Cupid upon his slumber crept; And, while a balmy sigh he stole, Exhaling from the infant's soul, He smiling said, “ With this, with this I'll scent my Julia's burning kiss !" Nay, more; he stole to Venus' bed, Ere yet the sanguine flush had fled, Which Love's divinest, dearest flame Had kindled through her panting frame. Her soul still dwelt on memory's themes, Still floated in voluptuous dreams; And every joy she felt before In slumber now was acting o'er. From her ripe lips, which seem'd to thrill As in the war of kisses still, And amorous to each other clung, He stole the dew that trembling hung, And smiling said, “With this, with this I'll bathe my Julia's burning kiss!”

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TO
REMEMBER him thou leavest behind,

Whose heart is warmly bound to thee, Close as the tenderest links can bind

A heart as warm as heart can be.

SONG. IF I swear by that eye, you ’ll allow

Its look is so shifting and new,

Oh! I had long in freedom roved,

Though many seem'd my soul to share; ’T was passion when I thought I loved,

'T was fancy when I thought them fair. E'en she, my Muse's early theme,

Beguiled me only while she warm'd; "T was young desire that fed the dream,

And reason broke what passion form'd.

1 All these songs were adapted to airs which Mr. Little composed, and soinetimes sang, for his friends: this may account for the peculiarity of metre observable in many of them.-E.

But thou—ah! better had it been

If I had still in freedom roved,

If I had ne'er thy beauties seen,

For then I never should have loved!

Thy last fading glance will illumine the way,

And a kiss be our passport to heaven!

Then all the pain which lovers feel

Had never to my heart been known; But, ah! the joys which lovers steal,

Should they have ever been my own? Oh! trust me, when I swear thee this,

Dearest! the pain of loving thee, The very pain, is sweeter bliss

Than passion's wildest ecstasy! That little cage I would not part,

In which my soul is prison'd now, For the most light and winged heart

That wantons on the passing vow. Still, my beloved ! still keep in mind,

However far removed from me, That there is one thou leavest behind

Whose heart respires for only thee!
And, though ungenial ties have bound

Thy fate unto another's care,
That arm, which clasps thy bosom round,

Cannot confine the heart that's there.
No, no! that heart is only mine,

By ties all other ties above, For I have wed it at a shrine

Where we have had no priest but Love !

SONG.
Think on that look of humid ray,

Which for a moment mix'd with mine,
And for that moment seem'd to say,

“I dare not, or I would be thine !"
Think, think on every smile and glance,

On all thou hast to charm and move;
And then forgive my bosom's trance,

And tell me 't is not sin to love!
Oh! not to love thee were the sin;

For sure, if Heaven's decrees be done,
Thou, thou art destined still to win,

As I was destined to be won!

SONG
A CAPTIVE thus to thee, my girl,

How sweetly shall I pass my age,
Contented, like the playful squirrel,

To wanton up and down my cage.

When Death shall envy joy like this,

And come to shade our sunny weather,
Be our last sigh the sigh of bliss,

And both our souls exhale together!

SONG
Fly from the world, O Bessy! to me,

THE CATALOGUE.
Thou’lt never find any sincerer;
I'll give up the world, O Bessy! for thee,

“ Come, tell me,” says Rosa, as, kissing and kiss'd, I can never meet any that 's dearer!

One day she reclined on my breast;
Then tell me no more, with a tear and a sigh, “Come, tell me the number, repeat me the list
That our loves will be censured by many;

Of the nymphs you have loved and caress’d.”-
All, all have their follies, and who will deny Oh, Rosa ! 't was only my fancy that roved,
That ours is the sweetest of any ?

My heart at the moment was free;

But I'll tell thee, my girl, how many I've loved, When your lip has met mine, in abandonment sweet, And the number shall finish with thee!

Have we felt as if virtue forbid it ?-
Have we felt as if Heaven denied them to meet ?- My tutor was Kitty; in infancy wild
No, rather 't was Heaven that did it!

She taught me the way to be blest;
So innocent, love! is the pleasure we sip,

She taught me to love her, I loved like a child, So little of guilt is there in it,

But Kitty could fancy the rest.
That I wish all my errors were lodged on your lip, This lesson of dear and enrapturing lore
And I'd kiss them away in a minute !

I have never forgot, I allow;

I have had it by rote very often before,
Then come to your lover, oh! fly to his shed,
From a world which I know thou despisest;

But never by heurt until now!
And slumber will hover as light on our bed, Pretty Martha was next, and my soul was all flame,
As e'er on the couch of the wisest !

But my head was so full of romance,
And when o'er our pillow the tempest is driven, That I fancied her into some chivalry dame,
And thou, pretty innocent! fearest,

And I was her knight of the lance!
I'll tell thee, it is not the chiding of Heaven, But Martha was not of this fanciful school,
"Tis only our lullaby, dearest !

And she laugh'd at her poor little knight;

While I thought her a goddess, she thought me a fool, And, oh! when we lie on our death-bed, my love!

And I'll swear she was most in the right.
Looking back on the scene of our errors,
A sigh from my Bessy shall plead then above, My soul was now calm, till, by Cloris's looks,
And Death be disarm'd of his terrors !

Again I was tempted to rove;
And each to the other embracing will say,

But Cloris, I found, was so learned in books, “ Farewell! let us hope we're forgiven!”

That she gave me more logic than love!

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