Ev'n as one heat another heat expels,
Or as one nail by strength drives out another;
So the remembrance of my former love
Is by a newer object quite forgotten.
Few
years
have passed since thou and I
Were firmest friends, at least in name,
And childhood's gay sincerity
Preserved our feelings long the same.
But now, like me, too well thou know'st
What trifles oft the heart recall;
And those who once have loved the most
Too soon forget they loved at all.
And such the change the heart displays,
So frail is early friendship's reign,
A month's brief lapse, perhaps a day's,
Will view thy mind estranged again.
If so, it never shall be mine
To mourn the loss of such a heart;
The fault was Nature's fault, not thine,
Which made thee fickle as thou art.
As rolls the ocean's changing tide,
So human feelings ebb and flow;
And who would in a breast confide
Where stormy passions ever glow?
Tis otherwise decreed, and I submit!
Alone I guide my bark adown the stream; Dark is the voyage, around the night-birds flit, The waves are tinged by no sweet-smiling beam. And now I breathe the parting word—Farewell! And now, the cords which fondly bind, I sever! Break from the scenes I once had loved so well,— And tear thine image from my heart for ever! J. W. Hanson.
Farewell, Theresa! that cloud which over
Yon moon this moment gathering we see,
Shall scarce from her pure path have passed, ere thy lover
Swift o'er the wide wave shall wander from thee. Long, like that dim cloud, I've hung around thee,
Darkening thy prospects, saddening thy brow; With gay heart, Theresa, and bright cheek I found thee;
Oh! think how changed, love, how changed art thou
But here I free thee: like one awaking
From fearful slumber, this dream thou'lt tell;
The bright moon her spell too is breaking,
Past are the dark clouds; Theresa, farewell!
DRAGON PLANT.... You are near a snare.
Puts pirate's colours out at both our sterns,
That we might fight each other in mistake,
That he should share the ruin of us both!
His tongue was soft as velvet leaf,
His poison-fangs concealing;
But where he stung, the festering wound
Was past the art of healing.
"Beware of him whose speech is smooth,"
The mother spake her daughter;
"The deepest depths are ever found
Where flows the smoothest water."
"His heart is like an angel's heart,"
The daughter spake her mother;
"He seeks to be to thee and me
A loving son and brother."
She listened to his guileful tale,
Nor heeded words of warning;
Ah! bitterly did future pain
Repay her present scorning.
For Robin laid his cunning game
With art so deep and skilful,
That gentle Ellen's mind was turned
To disobedience wilful.
Is there no way to save thee? minutes fly,
And thou art lost! thou! my sole benefactor,
The only being who was constant to me
Through every change. Yet, make me not a traitor!
Let me save thee—but spare my honour!
Ah, heedless girl! why thus disclose
What ne'er was meant for other ears?
Why thus destroy thine own repose,
And dig the source of future tears?
Oh! thou wilt weep, imprudent maid,
While lurking, envious foes will smile,
For all the follies thou hast said,
Of those who spoke but to beguile.
Again, I tell thee, ask not; but by all
Thou holdest dear on earth or heaven—by all
The souls of thy great fathers, and thy hope
To emulate them, and to leave behind
Descendants worthy both of them and thee—
By all thou hast of blest in hope or memory—
By all thou hast to fear here or hereafter—
By all the good deeds thou hast done to me,
Good I would now repay with greater good,
Remain within—trust to thy household gods
And to my word for safety, if thou dost
As I now counsel—but if not, thou art lost!
Byron.
REED....Single Blessedness.
But earlier is the rose distilled,
Than that which withering on the virgin thorn
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
Love not, love not; the thing you love may change;
The rosy lip may cease to smile on you,
The kindly beaming eye grow cold and strange,
The heart still warmly beat, and not for you.
Mrs. Norton.
Alone! alone! how drear it is always to be alone!
In such a depth of wilderness, the only thinking one!
The waters in their path rejoice, the trees together
sleep—
But I have not one silver voice upon my ear to creep!
Do any thing but love; or, if thou lovest,
And art a woman, hide thy love from him
Whom thou dost worship. Never let him know
How dear he is; flit like a bird before him;
Lead him from tree to tree, from flower to flower;
But be not won; or thou wilt, like that bird,
When caught and caged, be left to pine neglected,
And perish in forgetfulness.
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