THE BEGGAR GIRL. MINE the tear, and mine the sigh; The torn garb streaming in the gale; The little child of misery! When winter winds blow sharp and cold, In vain my cloak I round me fold; My cloak is thin, the wind so keen And bitter, pierces me within. And when the dark and gloomy night The little child of misery! ODE TO PRIDE. PRIDE! origin of all our woes! Of ignorance and fond self-love the child; Nurst midst the sweets of flattery's bland repose, With tenderest caution, and with accents mild— Say whence that haughty air? The cheek suffus'd with passion's crimson glow? The lowering brow-the eyes' indignant glare— That strike with awe the trembling fools below? Is it that fashion'd of superior clay, Thy form the rage of fell disease defies; That death shall spare thee on his fated way, When far and wide his wasteful arrow flies? Why shivers thus thy mighty frame? Th' autumnal zephyr only shook his wingsAnd flows in fainter tides the vital stream, And languid life relaxes all her springs? Is it that on thy comprehensive mind, Celestial wisdom all her influence pours? Then tell me thou-for thou must know- Or whence art thou deriv'd, or where shalt thou retire? Form'd of the selfsame clay, and doom'd to tread Nor shalt thou, arrogant of heart, upbraid For when thy dark and scornful eye And anxious honor that disdains control: Nor heed th' impassioned voice that threats in vain; As the high cliffs of Cambria's mountains hoar, Smile at the gathering winds that round their summits roar. |