LINES ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND.

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Nor*** forget with his free-op'ning door,

(Tho' doomed to neglect, when his sunshine was o'er,)

In whose manners, a vein of French suavity flow'd,

As once soften'd that region of grace th' abode.

Like the poor Bedouin Arab on Africa's strand,

With his palm-shaded isle in an ocean of sand;
On far-vanish'd pleasure we love to repose,

While the landscape in colours, unfading still glows;
Then return-where a welcome you'll find in each breast,
With the lark you arise, or 'till dinner you rest.
Partake of each comfort our villa affords,

With the cellar displaying its long-treasur'd hoards;
And as we the high-flavour'd Hermitage quaff,

At our follies and errors, we'll join in your laugh.

LINES

ADDRESSED TO A LADY, LAMENTING HER HAIR WAS

TURNED GREY.

"A short-liv'd reign, of some few years at most,

"Is all, alas! the fairest Belle can boast;

By slow degrees she feels her power decay, "And younger beauties bear the palm away; "Then Age comes limping with his frosty face, "To blight each joy, and wither ev'ry grace." Coll. of fugitive Poetry.

You complain fair ***, your tresses are grey,

And your cheeks boast no longer the freshness of May; That less brilliant the visions of pleasure appear,

As the shadows of ev'ning approach and draw near,

LINES ADDRESSED TO A LADY.

Tho' many gay winters, (oh! banish that frown,)

Have elaps'd since the follies we knew of this town!
"when presented" on leaving your teens,

Since you
Saw the day-star of Hope, gild the once fairy scenes;
That ivy-wreath'd chaplet, Time cannot unbraid,
When as Psyche you seem'd by the Graces array'd;
That tasteful simplicity cannot destroy,

Which might fire the most stoical bosom with joy.
Yet the hour will arrive, at which others repine,
Who alone in the circles of Fashion can shine;
When your roses must wither, your form must decay,
(Like the beautiful close of a bright summer day.)
Then enjoy 'ere Life's current too rapidly flows,
All opulence grants, and all friendship bestows;

Still

pursue the gay scenes of your once verdant prime, And arrest by your toilet the march of old Time; For believe the stern moralist's oft-quoted page, (Forgotten thro' youth but remember'd in age ;) "Your complaints, ye fond vot'ries of pleasure give o'er, "And forbear lovely Woman's brief reign to deplore; "Had duration been granted to Beauty and Love,

"In Olympus, the Gods would retain them above.”

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LINES ADDRESSED TO A LADY.

As creation must then with their mandate comply,
Oh! repress the soft tear and dispel the vain sigh;
And some minor afflictions let Fancy pourtray,
That obscure the bright gleam of Prosperity's day.
Exempt you imagine, from trouble or pain,
The rich noble survey, in his ancient domain;
In descent, he can boast the Plantagenet blood,
With a pedigree reaching almost to the flood;
Yet not even Job, such annoyance could feel,
Or the Iliad itself of great Homer reveal.

His daughter, whose charms were extoll'd far and wide,

Of some profligate "Roué" becomes the fair bride ;

66

My Lady" turns Saint, or coquets with the Muse,

And the next dissolution, his borough will lose;

While his sprightly young heir with the keeper drinks ale, Crown'd by laurels Olympic, for driving the mail;

At Newmarket and Ascot, unrivall'd his name,

And he shines a Lothario of Marybone fame.

Next observe some fair dame in the paths of high life,

A prey to each petty vexation and strife;

If detain❜d "malgre lui" at the old Gothic hall,

By a Duchess o'er-look'd at a dinner or ball;

LINES ADDRESSED TO A LADY.

Her poodle is dying, and oh! cruel fate,

The carriage is broke-or her milliner late ;

The "Soubrette"-she once favour'd, elopes in disgrace,

Or the faithful old Butler she cannot unplace;

While her long blazon'd " Féte" is by accident crost,
And her journey to Rome, or to Florence is lost.
Yet Gratitude whispers each blessing recall,
"Contrast the poor widow depriv'd of her all,
"Reflect on the debtor, the captive and slave,

"Or how many in anguish descend to the grave ;

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Reflect, oh! reflect, on each tropical clime,

"The gloomy abode of oppression and crime;
"Where woman, fair woman, the gentle and pure,

"Is compell'd in the Harem each wrong to endure ;
"Denied the soft ties of affection and love,

66 (Of all blessings the greatest, derived from above.)
"What avail the gay objects adorning her room,
“The silken divans and delicious perfume?

"The arabesque floor and the fountain's soft spray,
"To cool and alleviate the fervours of day?
"When she sighing, reflects on her dear father-land,
"As the scenes of her innocent childhood expand;

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