VIII.

"Fair are the banks thy waters lave, sweet stream!

Thy voice hath been as music to my ear.
I leave thee now, awaken'd from the dream
Of youth, while steals the solitary tear
From sorrow's fount. No more shall Fancy rear
Structures, which promised never to decay,

Pure as thy lucid wave; no future year

Restore those early visions which display

Life's pathway throng'd by pilgrims, innocent and gay!

IX.

"Thou ancient forest, whose tall race have stood

Time and the elements, and still re-bloom,

When Spring returns to cheer thy solitude

With fruits and wild-flowers, breathing rich perfume:

Within thy glades, obscured by twilight gloom,
Delighted have I stray'd, with none to tell
Of earthly joys or sorrows in the tomb.

Oft have I sought in thee some silent dell,
Where Solitude herself untroubled loved to dwell.

X.

"But thou, more dear than these-than all beside,-
Daughter of Beauty! whom I loved so well:
In infancy my playmate, and my pride
In merry boyhood;-to bid thee farewell,
Wrings my fond bosom till the big tears swell
Into mine eyes, although unworthy thou
Of tears like these, that of affection tell.
Thou may'st regret the pangs I suffer now,

In some despairing hour, when dreaming of thy vow.

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XI.

Many may love thee, but the heart which thou
Estranged from thy affection was most true,
And still might be, though it is feeling now
The arrows keen which thy resentment threw.
Thou wert the first my fond affection knew;
Thou must be her on whom 'tis last bestow'd.
Though time our early loves cannot renew,

Still must my heart glow, as it purely glow'd,

When from our bosoms young a mutual fondness flow'd!

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XII.

Why canst thou smile, when I must sadly weep For that which thou hast done with reckless hand? Why didst thou pluck love's flowers, that, rooted deep, Could joy and sorrow, even time, withstand ? My barque of love has left the promised land, The peaceful haven where it hoped to rest, And seeks, no matter where, another strand, Where storms may not its shatter'd sail molest. It ne'er can sail again in pride o'er Ocean's breast!

XIII.

"While hope, and love, and many feelings true,

It bore, still guided by the lovely Star

That, through the gloom of life's dark waters, threw A light to guide it in its wanderings far,

No tempests came its peaceful path to bar;

Or, when they did arise, Love steered its way

Through shoals and quicksands, where the rude world's

Tried all in vain its prosperous course to stay, Until that friendly Star withdrew her guiding ray.

[jar

XIV.

"Then darkness fell around it, and the winds
Of strong adversity and anguish came.

In vain Hope's hand the shatter'd canvas binds;
Its path is lost-it drives without an aim :
There is no star to guide. The fearful flame
Of desolation sweeps its dreary deck;-
Onwards it drifts, resistlessly and tame,

Where rocks arise in many a rugged speck;

Onwards it drifts for aye-a ruin'd, haunted wreck!"

SONNET.

DEVOTION.

THERE is devotion in the summer breeze

In the sweet murmur of the mountain rill; 'Tis heard when tempests sweep the distant hill, And whirlwinds prostrate lay the aged trees:

There is devotion in the lark's sweet song,

When morning rises from the lap of night;
A thousand insects breathe it from among

The summer fields, and garden flow'rets bright:
'Tis heard when peace reigns o'er the tranquil sea,-
When the loud waves beat on the rugged shore;
When Labour carols on the fertile lea;

Or from the wood the blackbird's warblings pour:
But oh! how pure, when Childhood bends the knee,

And whispers praise to HIM whom heaven and earth adore!