The aspen's changeful shade can be
No shelter for the dove;
And hearts as varying as that tree,
Are sure no place for love.
Hope lingered long and anxiously,
O'er failing faith, but now
I give thee back each heartless sigh,
Give back each broken vow.
I'll trust the stay of tulip dyes,
The calm of yon wild sea,
The sunshine of the April skies,
But never more to thee!
OH! would that love had power to raise
A little isle for us alone,
With fairy flowers, and sunny rays,
The blue sea wave its guardian zone.
No other step should ever press
This hidden Eden of the heart,
And we would share its loveliness,
From every other thing apart.
The rose and violet should weep,
Whene'er our leafy couch was laid,
The lark should wake our morning sleep,
The bulbul sing our serenade.
And we would watch the starry hours,
And call the moon to hear our vows,
And we would cull the sweetest flowers,
And twine fresh chaplets for our brows.
I thought thus of the flowers, the moon,
This fairy isle for you and me:
And then I thought how very soon
How very tired we should be.
He must be rich whom I could love,
His fortune clear must be,
Whether in land or in the funds,
'Tis all the same to me.
He must be old whom I could love,
Then he'll not plague me long;
In sooth 'twill be a pleasant sight,
To see him borne along
To where the croaking ravens lurk,
And where the earth-worms dwell:
A widow's hood will suit my face,
And black becomes me well.
And he must make a settlement,
I'll have no man without;
And when he writes his testament,
He must not leave me out.
Oh! such a man as this would suit
Each wish I here express;
If he should say,--Will you have me?
I'll very soon say-Yes!
WHOSE imp art thou, with dimpled cheek,
And curly pate, and merry eye,
And arm and shoulders round and sleek,
And soft and fair, thou urchin sly?
What boots it who, with sweet caresses,
First called thee his, or squire or hind?
For thou in every wight that passes
Dost now a friendly playmate find!
Thy downcast glances, grave but cunning,
As fringed eyelids rise and fall,
Thy shyness, swiftly from me running,
"Tis infantine coquetry all!
But far afield thou hast not flown,
With mocks and threats half-lisped, half-spoken,
I feel thee pulling at my gown,
Of right good-will thy simple token!
And thou must laugh and wrestle too,
A mimic warfare with me waging,
To make, as wily lovers do,
Thy after kindness more engaging!
The wilding rose, sweet as thyself,
And new-cropped daisies, are thy treasure;
I'd gladly part with worldly pelf,
To taste again thy youthful pleasure!
But yet, for all thy merry look,
Thy frisks and wiles, the time is coming, When thou shalt sit in cheerless nook,
The weary spell or hornbook thumbing!
Well; let it be! through weal and woe,
Thou knowest not now thy future range;
Life is a motley shifting show,
And thou a thing of hope and change!
FAREWELL-a long farewell to thee,
My own, my native land!
Now would to God that I were free
Upon thy rugged strand!
If but for one last look to bless
Thy hills and deep blue sky,
And all my love for thee confess :
Then lay me down and die.
But now I am alone, and none
Will hear when I am dead:
Perchance ere sets that glorious Sun,
My spirit shall be fled!
I watch him yet-and faintly smile
In death, to think that he
Will rise so bright upon that isle,
Where I may never be ;
My Country! while I bless thee, how
My feelings in me swell:
Alas, I never knew till now
I loved thee half so well!
But when alone among strange men,
When friends forget, and false ones flee;
Something the heart must love, and then
It can
turn to thee!
Farewell, farewell! the sun's last gleams
Are sinking in the sea:
Along the shore the sea-bird screams,
Unheard, unwrecked by me;
I feel my ebbing breath decay,
And fail my darkening sight:
Yet ere I pass away, away,
My native land-good night!
THE sun went down in beauty-not a cloud
Darkened its radience-yet there might be seen
A few fantastic vapours scattered o'er
The face of the blue heavens; some fair and slight
As the pure lawn that shields the maiden's breast;
Some shone like silver-some did stream afar,
Faint and dispersed, like the pale horse's mane
Which Death shall stride hereafter,-some were glit-
tering
Like dolphin's scales, touched out with wavering hues
Of beautiful light-outvying some the rose,
And some the violet, yellow, white, and blue,
Scarlet, and purpling red.-One small lone ship
Was seen, with outstretched sails, keeping its way
In quiet o'er the deep ;--all nature seemed
Fond of tranquillity;-the glassy sea
Scarce rippled-the halcyon slept upon the wave;
The winds were all at rest-and in the east
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