Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

Thy child shall show respect to thy gray hairs,
Befriend thee, of all other friends bereft,
And give thy life its only cordial left?
Aware then how much danger intervenes,
To compass that good end, forecast the means.
His heart, now passive, yields to thy command;
Secure it thine, its key is in thine hand.
If thou desert thy charge, and throw it wide,
Nor heed what guests there enter and abide,
Complain not if attachments lewd and base
Supplant thee in it, and usurp thy place.
But if thou guard its sacred chambers sure
From vicious inmates and delights impure,
Either his gratitude shall hold him fast,
And keep him warm and filial to the last;
Or if he prove unkind (as who can say,
But being man, and therefore frail, he may)

880

885

890

895

One comfort yet shall cheer thine aged heart ;

Howe'er he slight thee, thou hast done thy part.
'Oh, barbarous! wouldst thou with a Gothic hand

Pull down the schools-what!-all the schools i' th' land; 900
Or throw them up to livery-nags and grooms,
Or turn them into shops and auction rooms?'
A captious question, sir, and yours is one,
Deserves an answer similar, or none.
Wouldst thou, possessor of a flock, employ
(Apprised that he is such) a careless boy,

905

And feed him well, and give him handsome pay,

Merely to sleep, and let them run astray?

Survey our schools and colleges, and see

A sight not much unlike my simile.

910

From education, as the leading cause,

The public character its colour draws;

Thence the prevailing manners take their cast,
Extravagant or sober, loose or chaste.

And, though I would not advertise them yet,
Nor write on each-This building to be let,'
Unless the world were all prepared to embrace

915

A plan well worthy to supply their place;
Yet, backward as they are, and long have been,
To cultivate and keep the MORALS clean
(Forgive the crime), I wish them, I confess,
Or better managed, or encouraged less.

920

MINOR POEMS.

AN EPISTLE TO JOSEPH HILL, ESQ.

DEAR Joseph-five and twenty years ago-
Alas, how time escapes!-'tis even so

With frequent intercourse, and always sweet,
· And always friendly, we were wont to cheat
A tedious hour-and now we never meet!
As some grave gentleman in Terence says,
('Twas therefore much the same in ancient days)
Good lack, we know not what to-morrow brings-
Strange fluctuation of all human things!
True. Changes will befall, and friends may part,
But distance only cannot change the heart:
And were I called to prove the assertion true,
One proof should serve a reference to you.

Whence comes it then, that in the wane of life,
Though nothing have occurred to kindle strife,
We find the friends we fancied we had won,
Though numerous once, reduced to few or none?
Can gold grow worthless that has stood the touch?
No; gold they seemed, but they were never such.
Horatio's servant once, with bow and cringe,
Swinging the parlour door upon its hinge,
Dreading a negative, and overawed

Lest he should trespass, begged to go abroad.
'Go, fellow!-whither?'-turning short about-
'Nay-stay at home-you're always going out.'
"'Tis but a step, sir, just at the street's end.'-
'For what?'-'An please you, sir, to see a friend.'-

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« AnteriorContinuar »