Who the heart can share Blest would be the daddy Of Peg of Limavaddy. In the land of Paddy, Citizen or Squire, Tory, Whig, or Radi- Peg of Limavaddy. Or that of Serjeant Taddy, Meetly I'd admire Peg of Limavaddy. And till I expire, Or till I grow mad, I Will sing unto my lyre Peg of Limavaddy! MAY-DAY ODE. BUT yesterday a naked sod The dandies sneered from Rotten Row, And cantered o'er it to and fro : And see 'tis done! As though 'twere by a wizard's rod A blazing arch of lucid glass Leaps like a fountain from the grass To meet the sun! A quiet green but few days since, A palace as for fairy prince, And built and glazed! A peaceful place it was but now, A countless throng I see beneath the crystal bow, And Gaul and German, Russ and Turk, Each with his native handiwork And busy tongue. I felt a thrill of love and awe To mark the different garb of each, A thrill, methinks, like His who saw High Sovereign, in your Royal state, Are open set, — Hush! ere you pass the shining gate; Hush! ere the heaving curtain draws, And let the Royal pageant pause A moment yet. People and prince a silence keep ! Before the splendid portal step, (While still the wondrous banquet stays,) From Heaven supreme a blessing prays Upon the feast. Then onwards let the triumph march ; And trumpets ring, and joy-bells toll, Pass underneath the shining arch, 'Neath which the leafy elms are green; Ascend unto your throne, O Queen! And take your state. Behold her in her Royal place; That sways the sceptre of this land, How frail and weak! Soft is the voice, and fair the face : She breathes amen to prayer and hymn ; No wonder that her eyes are dim, And pale her cheek. This moment round her empire's shores Oh! awful is that crown of yours, Of English May! A wondrous sceptre 'tis to bear : The foremost crown Of all the world, on one so fair! That chose her to it from her birth, And bade the sons of all the earth The representatives of man Here from the far Antipodes, And from the subject Indian seas, In Congress meet ; From Afric and from Hindustan, Gifts at her feet; Our brethren cross the Atlantic tides, With peaceful store; From Rhine and Danube, Rhone and Seine, From coast to coast in friendly chain, With countless ships we bridge the straits, And angry ocean separates Europe no more. * The U. S. frigate "St. Lawrence." From Mississippi and from Nile- Are friend and guest. Look down the mighty sunlit aisle, Around the feast! Along the dazzling colonnade, Far as the straining eye can gaze, And statues fair of nymph and maid, To deck the glorious roof and dome, Their standards bear. Yon are the works of Brahmin loom; And cries his prayer. Look yonder where the engines toil : Brave weapons these. Victorious over wave and soil, With these she sails, she weaves, she tills, Pierces the everlasting hills And spans the seas. |