Now thrice has Phoebus pass'd each duteous sign
Since first thy talents met our wondering gaze;
Still in augmenting lustre seen them shine,
Still scorning, like himself, all borrow'd rays.
Seen the expansion of thy fair renown,
Thy powers, thy graces rising with thy years.-
So bright thy morn, what splendours wait thy noon!
What trains of light, eclipsing all thy peers!
When Youth and Art's proud summit thou shalt
Passions that now are but illusive deem'd,
Then shall their empire in thy heart attain,
Then be what long, by miracle, they seem'd:
And when they glow in all their genuine fire,
Deeply are felt as gloriously pourtray'd,
O! may they nought in actual life inspire
That can thy virtue, or thy peace invade !
Above pale Envy's reach, thy soaring fame
Long may accordant multitudes attest!
And prosp❜rous Love, and pure Religion frame
The shield impassive for thy youthful breast!
And may advancing life for thee display
The gems of knowledge, and of joy the flowers;
Shine unobscur'd on thy consummate day,
With softest sun-set gild thine evening hours.
On wealth and rank while rolls Oblivion's stream,
Thy memory o'er its whelming waves shall climb,
For thy dear country shall record thy name,
And bind thy splendant wreaths on the dark brow of
Time.
A FAVOURITE CAT'S DYING SOLILOQUY,
LONG years beheld me PATTON's mansion
The gentlest, fondest of the feline race;
Before her frisking thro' the garden glade,
Or at her feet, in quiet slumber, laid;
Prais'd for my glossy back, of tortoise streak,
And the warm smoothness of my snowy neck;
Soft paws, that sheath'd for her the clawing nail,
The shining whisker, and meand'ring tail.
Now feeble age each glazing eye-ball dims,
And pain has stiffen'd these once supple limbs ;
Fate of eight lives the forfeit gasp obtains,
And e'en the ninth creeps languid thro' my veins.
Much, sure, of good the future has in store, When Lucy basks on PATTON's hearth no more,
In those blest climes where fishes oft forsake
The winding river and the glassy lake;
There as our silent-footed race behold
The spots of crimson and the fins of gold,
Venturing beyond the shielding waves to stray,
They gasp on shelving banks, our easy prey;
While birds unwing'd hop careless o'er the ground,
And the plump mouse incessant trots around,
Near wells of cream, which mortals never skim,
Warm marum creeping round their shallow brim ;
Where green valerian tufts, luxuriant spread,
Cleanse the sleek hide, and form the fragrant bed.
Yet, stern dispenser of the final blow,
Before thou lay'st an aged Grimalkin low,
Bend to her last request a gracious ear,
Some days, some few short days to linger here!
So, to the guardian of her earthly weal
Shall softest purs these tender truths reveal:
Ne'er shall thy now expiring Puss forget
To thy kind cares her long-enduring debt;
Nor shall the joys that painless realms decree,
Efface the comforts once bestow'd by thee;
1. 10. Warm marum-The affection of cats for marum and valerian is well known. They will beat down the stems, mat them with their feet, and roll upon them.
To countless mice thy chicken bones preferr'd,
Thy toast to golden fish and wingless bird:
O'er marum border and valerian bed
Thy Lucy shall decline her moping head;
Sigh that she climbs no more, with grateful glee,
Thy downy sofa and thy cradling knee;
Nay, e'en by wells of cream shall sullen swear,
Since PATTON, her lov'd mistress, is not there.
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