Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[graphic]

Thither he ran, and he bent him low,

He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow,
And he pushed her over the yielding sand,
Till he came to the verge of the haunted land.
She was as lovely a pleasure-boat

As ever fairy had paddled in,

For she glowed with purple paint without,
And shone with silvery pearl within;

A sculler's notch in the stern he made,

An oar he shaped of the bootle-blade;

Then sprung to his seat with a lightsome leap,

And launched afar, on the calm, blue deep!

[blocks in formation]

No American can forget that to Drake we are indebted for our National Ode, which commences,

When Freedom, from her mountain height,

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,

And set the stars of glory there!

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure, celestial white
With streakings of the morning light;
Then, from his mansion in the sun,
She called her eagle bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand

The symbol of her chosen land.

Another of our American bards, SPRAGUE, has given us the following sweet bird-song: suggested by seeing two swallows flying into a church in Boston :

Gay, guiltless pair, what seek ye from the fields of heaven?
Ye have no need of prayer, ye have no sins to be forgiven.
Why perch ye here, where mortals to their Maker bend?
Can your pure spirits fear the God ye never could offend?
Ye never knew the crimes for which we come to weep.
Penance is not for you, bless'd wanderers of the upper deep.
To you 'tis given to wake sweet nature's untaught lays;
Beneath the arch of heaven to chirp away a life of praise.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

The poem by which this author is most known, entitled Curiosity, has a singular history. Griswold states that it was published in Calcutta a few years ago as an original production by a British officer, with no other alterations than the omission of a few American names, and the insertion of others in their places; and in this form. it was reprinted in London, where it was much praised. Now listen to the following song :

[ocr errors]

Day, in melting purple dying,
Blossoms, all around me, sighing,
Fragrance, from the lilies straying,
Zephyr, with my ringlets playing,
Ye but waken my distress;

I am sick of loneliness.

[ocr errors]

Save thy toiling, spare thy treasure,
All I ask is friendship's pleasure;
Let the shining ore lie darkling,
Bring no gems in lustre sparkling :
Gifts and gold are naught to me,
I would only look on thee!

Tell to thee the high-wrought feeling,
Ecstasy but in revealing :

Paint to thee the deep sensation,

Rapture in participation,—

Yet but torture, if comprest

In a lone, unfriended breast.

[blocks in formation]

These glowing stanzas, from MRS. BROOKS's Zophiel,—an exquisite story of a Jewish exiled maiden and her lovers,-exhibit the style of the authoress, whom Southey designated, in The Doctor, as "the most impassioned and imaginative of poetesses.'

[ocr errors]

Turn we for a moment to a sweet, familiar ditty-known to all lovers of lyric verse, 'tis about the little sanctuary of Home:

'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home:
A charm from the skies seems to hallow it there,
Which, go through the world, you'll not meet elsewhere.
Home, home, sweet home!

[blocks in formation]

That immor

Every person knows that sweet household lyric; but it is not every one who has heard the life-story of its author. tal song, so brim-full of tender pathos and natural feeling, would cause many to drop a tear of sympathy over the sad fate of its author, HOWARD PAYNE, were they to be told that,―an American adventurer in the heart of Paris, Vienna, and London, while hearing

persons singing his own beautiful lines on the pleasures of home,he was not only denied the possession of one himself, but was even destitute of the necessaries of life.

The following beautiful little lyric is from the pen of GENERAL BURGOYNE, of our Revolutionary annals:

When first this humble roof I knew,

With various care I strove;

My grain was scarce, my sheep were few,
My all of life was love.

By mutual toil our board was dressed,
The spring our drink bestowed;
But when her lip the brim had pressed,
The cup with nectar flowed!

Content and peace the dwelling shared,
No other guest came nigh;

In them was given, though gold was spared,
What gold could never buy.

No value has a splendid lot,

But as the means to prove,
That from the castle to the cot,
The all of life is-love.

Here is DARWIN's Sweet Song to May:

Born in yon blaze of orient sky,

Sweet May! thy radiant form unfold;
Unclose thy blue voluptuous eye,

And wave thy shadowy locks of gold.

For thee the fragrant zephyrs blow,
For thee descends the sunny shower;

The rills in softer murmurs flow,

And brighter blossoms gem the bower.

Light graces decked in flowery wreaths,

And tiptoe joys their hand combine,
And Love his sweet contagion breathes,
And, laughing, dances round thy shrine.

Warm with new life, the glittering throng,
On quivering fin and rustling wing,
Delighted join their votive song,
And hail thee Goddess of the Spring!

[graphic]

This charming American song, the Old Oaken Bucket, is by WOODWORTH :

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view;

« AnteriorContinuar »