TO THE EARL OF

• Tu semper amoris Sis memor, et cari comitis ne abscedat Imago.'

VALERIUS FLACCU..

rosy

Friend of my youth! when young we roved,
Like striplings mutually beloved,

With Friendship's purest glow;
The bliss which winged those hours
Was such as Pleasure seldom showers

On mortals here below.
The recollection seems, alone,
Dearer than all the joys I've known,

When distant far from you ;
Though pain, 'tis still a pleasing pain,
To trace those days and hours again,

And sigh again, Adieu !
My pensive memory lingers o'er
Those scenes to be enjoyed no more,

Those scenes regretted ever;
The measure of our youth is full,
Life's evening dream is dark and dull,

And we may meet-ah! vever!
As when one parent spring supplies
Two streams, which from one fountain rise,

Together joined in vain;
How soon, diverging from their source,
Each, murmuring, seeks another course,

Till mingled in the main !
Our vital streams of weal or woe,
Though near, alas ! distinctly flow,

Nor mingle as before;
Now swift or slow, now black or clear,
Till Deatli's unfathom.ed gulf appear,

And both shall quit the shore.
Our souls, my friend! which once supplied
One wish, por breathed a thought beside,

Now flow in different channels ;

Disdaining bumbler rural sports,
'Tis yours to mix in polished courts,

And shine in Fashion's annals.
'Tis mine to waste on love my time,
Or vent my reveries in rhyme,

Without the aid of Reason;
For Sense and Reason (critics know it)
Have quitted every amorous poet,

Nor left a thought to seize 01).
Poor Little ! sweet melodious bard !
Of late esteemed it monstrous hard,

That he who sang before all;
He who the lore of love expanded,
By dire Reviewers should be branded,

As void of wit and moral.*
And yet, while Beauty's praise is thine,
Harmonious favorite of the Nine!

Repine not at thy lot;
Thy soothing lays may still be read,
When Persecution's arm is dead,

And critics are forgot.
Still I must yield those worthies merit,
Who chasten, with unsparing spirit,

Bad rhymes, and those who write them ;
And, though myself may be the next
By critic sarcasm to be vexed,

I really will not fight them.t
Perhaps they would do quite as well
To break the rudely-sounding shell

Of soch a young beginner;
He, who offends at pert nineteen,
Ere thirty may become, I ween,

A very hardened sinner. These stanzas were written soon after the appearance of a severe critique in a Northern Review on a new publication of the British Anacreon.

+ A bard (Horresco referens,) defied his reviewer to morta! combat: if this ex. ample becomes prevalent, our periodical censors must be dipped in the River Styzfor what else can secure them from the numerous host of their enraged assailants ?

Now,

I must retarn to you,
And sure apologies are due ;

Accept, then, my concession :
In truth, dear —, in fancy's flight,
I soar along from left to right-

My Muse admires digression.
I think I said 'twould be your fate
To add one star to royal state-

May regal smiles attend you !
And, should a noble monarch reign,
You will not seek bis smiles in vain,

If worth can recommend you.
Yet, since iu danger courts abound,
Where specious rivals glitter round,

Proin snares may Saints preserve you! And grant your love or friendship ne'er From any claim a kindred care,

But those who best deserve you.
Not for a moment may you stray
From Trutli's secure unerring way!

May no delights decoy!
O'er roses inay your footsteps inove,
Your smiles be ever smiles of love,

Your lears be tears of joy!
Oh! if you wish that happiness
Your coming days and years may bless,

And virtues crown your brow;
Be still as you were wont to be
Spotless as you've been known to me-

Be still as you are now.
And though some trifling share of praise,
To cheer my last declining days,

To me were doubly dear;
Whilst blessing your beloved nane,
I'd wave at once a poct's fame,

To prove a prophet here.

GRANTA, A MEDLEY.

Αργυρεαις λογχοισι μαχα και παντα Κρατησαις. .

Oh! could Le Sage's* demon's gift

Be realized at my desire,
This night my trembling form he'd lift,

To place it on St. Mary's spire.
Then would, unroof'd, old Granta's halls

Pedantic inmates full display ;
Fellows, who dream on lawn, or stalls,

The price of venal votes to pay.
Then would I view each rival wight,

P-tty and P-Im-s-n survey;
Who canvass there, with all their might,

Against the next elective day.
Lo! candidates and voters lie

All lull’d in sleep, a goudly number !
A race renown’d for piety,

Whose conscience wont disturb their slumber.
Lord H-, indeed, may not demur;

Fellows are sage reflecting men;
They know preferment can occur

But very seldom, now and then.
They know the Chancellor has got

Some pretty livings in disposal ;
Each hopes that one may be his lot,

And, therefore, smiles on his proposal.
Now, from the soporific scene

I'll turn mine eye, as night grows later,
To view unheeded, and unseen,

The studious sons of Alma Mater.
There, in apartments small and damp,

The candidate for college prizes
Sits poring by the midnight lamp,

Goes late to bed, yet early rises.
The 'Diable Boiteux' of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places Don
Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the houses for his inspection.

N

He, surely, well deserves to gain them,

With all the honours of his college, Who, striving hardly to obtain them,

Thus seeks unprofitable knowledge ; Who sacrifices hours of rest

To scan, precisely, metres Attic; Or agitates his anxious breast

In solving problems mathematic; Who reads false quantities in Sele,"

Or puzzles o’er the deep triangle; Depriv'd of many a wholesome meal,

In barbarous Latint doom'd to wrangle; Renouncing every pleasing page

From authors of historic use; Preferring to the letter'd sage

The square of the hypothenuse. I Still harmless are these occupations,

That hurt none but the hapless student, Compared with other recreations,

Which bring together the imprudent ; Whose daring revels shock the sight,

When vice and infamy combine; When drunkenness and dice invite,

As every sense is steep'd in wine. Not so the methodistic crew,

Who plans of reformation lay; In humble attitude they sue,

And for the sins of others pray;-Forgetting that their pride of spirit,

Their exultation in their trial, Detracts most largely from the merit

Of all their boasted self-denial.