Procrastination

Love will expire, the gay, the happy dream
Will turn to scorn, indiff'rence, or esteem:
Some favour'd pairs, in this exchange, are bless'd,
Nor sigh for raptures in a state of rest;
Others, ill-match'd, with minds unpair'd, repent
At once the deed, and know no more content;
From joy to anguish they, in haste, decline,
And with their fondness, their esteem resign:
More luckless still their fate, who are the prey
Of long-protracted hope and dull delay;
'Mid plans of bliss the heavy hours pass on,

THE GENTLEMAN FARMER

G WYN was a farmer, whom the farmers all,
Who dwelt around, the Gentleman would call;
Whether in pure humility or pride,
They only knew, and they would not decide.

Far diff'rent he from that dull plodding tribe,
Whom it was his amusement to describe;
Creatures no more enliven'd than a clod,
But treading still as their dull fathers trod;
Who lived in times when not a man had seen
Corn sown by drill, or thresh'd by a machine;
He was of those whose skill assigns the prize

THE DUMB ORATORS; OR, THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY.

That all men would be cowards if they dare,
Some men we know have courage to declare;
And this the life of many a hero shows,
That like the tide, man's courage ebbs and flows:
With friends and gay companions round them, then
Men boldly speak and have the hearts of men;
Who, with opponents seated, miss the aid
Of kind applauding looks, and grow afraid;
Like timid trav'llers in the night, they fear
Th' assault of foes, when not a friend is near.

(From " Tales " )

Counter and C LUBB were men in trade, whose pains,
Credit, and prudence, brought them constant gains;
Partners and punctual, every friend agreed
Counter and Clubb were men who must succeed.
When they had fixed some little time in life,
Each thought of taking to himself a wife:
As men in trade alike, as men in love,
They seemed with no according views to move;
As certain ores in outward view the same,
They showed their difference when the magnet came.
Counter was vain: with spirit strong and high,

(From " Tales " )

Genius ! thou gift of Heaven! thou light divine!
Amid what dangers art thou doomed to shine!
Oft will the body's weakness check thy force,
Oft damp thy vigour, and impede thy course;
And trembling nerves compel thee to restrain
Thy nobler efforts, to contend with pain;
Or Want (sad guest!) will in thy presence come,
And breathe around her melancholy gloom:
To life's low cares will thy proud thought confine,
And make her sufferings, her impatience, thine.

(From " Tales " )

There was a worthy, but a simple Pair,
Who nursed a Daughter, fairest of the fair:
Sons they had lost, and she alone remained,
Heir to the kindness they had all obtained;
Heir to the fortune they designed for all,
Nor had the allotted portion then been small;
But now, by fate enriched with beauty rare,
They watched their treasure with peculiar care:
The fairest features they could early trace,
And, blind with love, saw merit in her face —
Saw virtue, wisdom, dignity, and grace;
And Dorothea , from her infant years,

(From " Tales " )

Grave Jonas Kindred , Sybil Kindred's sire,
Was six feet high, and looked six inches higher;
Erect, morose, determined, solemn, slow,
Who knew the man could never cease to know:
His faithful spouse, when Jonas was not by,
Had a firm presence and a steady eye;
But with her husband dropped her look and tone,
And Jonas ruled unquestioned and alone.

He read, and oft would quote the sacred words,
How pious husbands of their wives were lords;
Sarah called Abraham Lord! and who could be,

" One thousand pounds per annuum
Is not so bad a figure, come! "
Cried Tottles. " And I tell you, flat,
A man may marry well on that!
To say " the Husband needs the Wife"
Is not the way to represent it.
The crowning joy of Woman's life
Is Man! " said Tottles (and he meant it).

The blissful Honeymoon is past:
The Pair have settled down at last:
Mamma-in-law their home will share,
And make their happiness her care.
" Your income is an ample one:
Go it, my children! " (And they went it).
" I rayther think this kind of fun

" Matilda Jane, you never look
At any toy or picture-book:
I show you pretty things in vain —
You must be blind, Matilda Jane!

" I ask you riddles, tell you tales,
But all our conversation fails:
You never answer me again —
I fear you're dumb, Matilda Jane!

" Matilda, darling, when I call,
You never seem to hear at all:
I shout with all my might and main —
But you're so deaf, Matilda Jane!

" Matilda Jane, you needn't mind:
For, though you're deaf, and dumb, and blind,
There's some one loves you, it is plain —

SPECTRE:
At the time of puberty I had obsessions.
I walk'd always with downcast eyes and blush'd scarlet to meet anyone in the street.
I thought I harbour'd a secret vice which none had discover'd before me.
I caught sight of my figure distorted in a shop window and thereafter imagined that I had a physical deformity which others ignored through kindness.
I believed that I stank.
If one raised his handkerchief to his nose even across the road I thought it was to shut off my noisesomeness.