TRUE LOVE. I. 'Tis sweet on Truth's high vantage-ground to stand And gaze on men below, in mazes lost Of error; sweet it is to break the wand Of juggling Comus, battling 'gainst a host Of frightful passions; or when tempest-tost To reach, by unexpected chance, the port; Sweet 'tis to have a Claude, though much it cost– Sweet to the honest heart's the rural sport; Sweetest is woman's love when 'tis of good report. II. To share each other's joys, to live indeed To be each other's helpmates in distress; To laugh through mutual aid at fortune's frown; Such were a bliss, indeed, which few can call their own. EXTEMPORANEOUS LINES WRITTEN AT THE spoils of nations here collected seem * See Gray's Epistle to Bentley, in Mason's edition of his works. "As when conspiring in the diamond's blaze The ineaner gems, that singly charm the sight, Together dart their intermingling rays And dazzle with a luxury of light!" Exotics fling their exquisite perfume From grand conservatories through the room April 17, 1820. PSEUDO-PATRIOTISM. How few there are who well deserve A traitor's name doth stain the fame Of Wallenstein the brave; The honours which he could not claim Adorn his rival's grave.* Rienzi, thou didst promise well, Yes! when the traitor-tribune fell *The great Gustavus Adolphus. TO BERNARD BARTON. UNLIKE indeed the meteor light Thou art a star to bless our sight, Mild are the breathings of thy lyre, Thou gentle bard, yet strong Thy verse, whene'er thy "muse of fire” To heaven directs her song. Thou hast not drunk, as others have, How stainless thy poetic wreath! How beautiful its hue! Unsullied by the world's gross breath, It looks for ever new. |