Short Poems

A S the Catholics tell me their Saint they can chuse,
I 've determin'd on mine, and 'tis known to the Muse;
'Tis on him , that with soft admonition corrects,
The afflicted consoles, and the helpless protects;
'Tis on him that in age has the vigour of youth,
And, by Patience caress'd, is the Parent of Truth;
If the name is not shadow'd enough in the rhyme,
Keep the secret, my heart! — in a whisper — " ' tis Time . "

TO A LADY WHO WAS INJURED BY A FALL .

T IME no other grace ensures ,
But is careful still of yours;
Chance alone have you to fear;
It is blind , and cannot hear .

WITH DRAWINGS OF HOPE, FAITH, AND CHARITY .

Faith is Love's credit — Hope the Lover's guest ,
But Charity alone — does all the rest .

Where is your treasure now? — and where is Fame?
Your gems, your sceptre's pride, your beauty's claim,
Inhabitants of dust, and shades of breath!
What now imports the race that you had run?
The herald's trophies, or the laurels won?
Your name perhaps may tell us of — your death .

T HE Sage whose hand this volume wrote
Had no proud quarters in his coat:
From peasants he deriv'd his birth,
But sprung to light on British earth;
No heir-loom was to him consign'd,
But a well-born unspotted mind —
A talent that his Nature lov'd,
And Fortune's ripening sun improv'd.

" BLESSINGS be with them, and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares!
The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays.
O might my name be numbered among theirs,
Then gladly would I end my mortal days! "

Then lastly, let some weekly strewings be
Devoted to the memory of me:
Then shall my ghost not walk about, but keep
Still, in the cool and silent shades of sleep.

Ours is the darkness, thine the light:
And yet the haunting thought of thee,
O fair and cordial friend! makes bright
The darkness; and we surely see
Thyself, thy very form and face,
Filled with a fresh perfecting grace.

Long be thy joys as longest days of June,
And short thy grief as is her shortest night;
But whether shadows fall or late or soon,
Thy face forever wear its summer light!

I THANK Eternal God, that you are mine,
Who are His too: courageous and divine
Must friendship be, through this great grace of God;
And have Eternity for period.