And hast thou seen, when turtles coo
Their varying bosoms swiftly flush?
Shot from the pale and dusky blue,

To mingle colour's boundless blush?

O! if thou hast, thou'lt guess the grace, The rich suffusion, beaming light, When on Aurelia's lovely face,

The blush first kindles to the sight.

THE HUE AND CRY.

O yes! my good people draw near,
My story surpasses belief,

Yet deign for a moment to hear,

And assist me to catch a stray thief.

Have you chanc'd a fair damsel to meet, Adorn'd like an angel of light,

In a robe that flow'd down to her feet,

No snow on the mountain so white?

Silver flowers bespangled her shoe,
Amber locks on her shoulders were spread,
Her waist had a girdle of blue,

And a beaver plum'd hat had her head.

Her steps an impression scarce leave,
She bounds o'er the meadow so soon;
Her smile is like Autumn's clear eve,
And her look as serene as his moon!

She seems to have nothing to blame,
Deceitless and meek as the dove;
But there lives not a thief of such fame,
She has pilfer'd below and above!

Her cheek has the blushes of day,
Her neck has undone the swan's wing,
Her breath has the odours of May,
And her eye has the dews of the spring.

She has robb'd of its crimson the rose,
She has dar'd the carnation to strip
The bee who has plunder'd them knows,
And would fain fill his hive at her lip.

She has stol'n for her forehead so even,
All beauty by sea and by land,
She has all the fine azure of heaven

In the veins of her temple and hand.

Yes, yes,

she has ransack'd above, She has beggard both nature and art, She has got all we honour and love,

And from me she has pilfer'd my heart.

Bring her home, honest friends! bring her home,
And set her down safe at my door:
Let her once my companion become,
And I swear she shall wander no more.

Bring her home, and I'll give a reward
Whose value can never be told,

More precious than all you regard,
More in worth than a house full of gold;

A reward such as none but a dunce, Such as none but a madman would miss, yes, I will give you for once

From the charmer you bring me-a kissi

LEDYARD'S PRAISE OF WOMEN.

Through many a land and clime a ranger, With toilsome steps I've held my way,

A lonely unprotected stranger,

To all the stranger's ills a prey.

While steering thus my course precarious, My fortune still has been to find Men's hearts and dispositions various, But gentle Women ever kind.

Alive to ev'ry tender feeling,

To deeds of mercy always prone;
The wounds of pain, and sorrow healing,
With soft compassion's sweetest tone.

No proud delay, no dark suspicion,
Stints the free bounty of their heart;
They turn not from the sad petition,
But cheerful aid at once impart.

Form'd in benevolence of nature,
Obliging, modest, gay, and mild,
Woman's the same endearing creature
In courtly town and savage wild.

When parch'd with thirst, with hunger wasted,
Her friendly hand refreshment gave;
How sweet the coarsest food has tasted!
What cordial in the simple wave!

Her courteous looks, her words caressing,
Shed comfort on the fainting sout;
Woman's the stranger's gen'ral blessing
From sultry India to the Pole,