EARLY RECOLLECTIONS.

And as the cygnet, ancient poets feign,

Chaunts ere his exit one melodious strain ;

Shall my dull Muse attempt her final song,
Nor gratitude, one feeble verse prolong;

To that kind friend, who watch'd my earliest years,
Shar'd in my joys, and sooth'd my infant fears?
Tho' many a season now has roll'd away,

Since her pure spirit, left its load of clay;
Tho' in those years her precepts may have died,
Shipwreck'd by folly, or by pleasure's tide;
From their long slumber may they yet revive,
And keep each dormant energy alive;

For her, how fruitless, either wish or pray'r,

Long since remov'd from ev'ry earthly care;
To those bright mansions where she hop'd to rest,
And now inhabits with the good and blest.

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A MON LIT,

SUR L'ANNIVERSAIRE, DE MA NAISSANCE.*

"Cedes coemptis saltibus et domo,
"Villaque flavus quam Tiberis lavit;

"Cedes, et extructis in altum

"Divitiis potietur hæres."

Horat.

"For that inevitable road,

"That leads him to his last abode,
"None can too well prepare;

"Or weigh too wisely ere he go;

"The good or ill he soon must know,

"When brought to judgment there."

Anthology.

OF Life's gay drama, tho' four acts have past,

And Nature's mandate now proclaims the last;

* The idea was first suggested by a beautiful French sonnet, to the same effect.

Our lamp burns dim, each gaudy dream is fled,
While Hope's bright portals we no longer tread;
To thee! where first this being drew its breath,
And must receive the fatal shaft of death;
Scene of my happiness-repose and pain,

Where oft to folly, judgment yields the rein;
Let me a brief and feeble tribute pay,

Past hours, recalling on this well-known day;
When tried affection spread her gen'rous hoard,
And playful guests enjoy'd the festive board.

As fam'd Queen Mab, in Shakespeare's fluent verse,
Displays the mitre, or replenish'd purse;

The Soldier's guerdon, or the Lover's charms, (When Morpheus opens his lethargic arms.)

Oft thus we see, in Fancy's magic glass,

Our earliest hopes, and first impressions pass;
While rosy health, each object could endear,
And Youth's gay train, with buoyant mirth appear.
How chang'd since then! dispers'd in many a clime,
Their ardour vanish'd, and decay'd their prime!
Some borne away by fickle Fortune's breath,

Or sav'd from sorrow by an early death!

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A MON LIT.

Instruct me then, to act an upright part,
With manly firmness join a feeling heart;
Above the rest, to scorn each mean disguise,
"To fall with dignity, with temper rise;"

"Till my short race is destin'd to be o'er,

And Time's last sand-glass can be turn'd no more; Thro' mercy, trusting at that awful hour,

In Heav'n's all gracious and benignant power,

That to my sins, her pardon may extend,

And the poor suppliant's humble pray'r attend;
In peace, in charity, with all mankind,

Contented, grateful, tranquil, and resign'd;
In some far-distant and sequester'd vale,

(The "Beau Ideal" of a fairy tale,)

Or where, reposing near the azure deep,
"The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep ;"
May this poor frame, as order'd from our birth,
In silence mingle with its parent earth;

Let no vain trappings o'er my ashes wave;

But these brief lines, Affection's hand engrave :"Here rests, long tried, in many a chequer'd year, "The gay companion, and the friend sincere ;

A MON LIT.

"A firm believer, tho' too oft he err'd,

"When mirth, or Pleasure's syren voice was heard ;

"Then hide his failings, and his faults forget,

"Learn here to pay mortality's last debt,

"And like the chrysalis attempt to rise,

"With brighter colours, and in purer skies."

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