To have renew'd the joys that once were mine, And while the wings of fancy still are free, LESSON CX. /// Ode to Disappointment.-HENRY KIRKE WHITE. 1. COME, Disappointment, come, Not in thy terrors clad; Come in thy meekest, saddest guise; The restless and the bad. But I recline Beneath thy shrine, ind round my brow resign'd, thy peaceful cypress twine. 2. Though Fancy flies away Before thy hollow tread, Yet meditation, in her cell, Hears, with faint eye, the lingering knell, And though the tear By chance appear, Yet she can smile and say, my all was not laid here. 3. Come, Disappointment, come. Though from hope's summit hurl'd, To turn my eye From vanity, And point to scenes of bliss that never, never die. 4. What is this passing scene? A peevish April day! A little sun, a little rain, And then night sweeps along the plain, And all things fade away. Man (soon discuss'd) Yields up his trust, And all his hopes and fears lie with him in the dust. 5. Oh! what is Beauty's power? It flourishes and dies; Will the cold earth its silence break, To tell how soft, how smooth a cheek O'er Beauty's fall; Her praise resounds no more when mantled in her pall. So music past is obsolete, And yet 'twas sweet, 'twas passing sweet, Thus does the shade In memory fade, When in forsaken tomb, the form beloved is laid. 7. Then since this world is vain, Why should I lay up earthly joys And cares and sorrows eat? Why fly from ill With anxious skill, When soon this hand will freeze, this throbbing heart be still, 8. Come, Disappointment, come! Thou art not stern to me: I bend my knee to thee. My race will run, I only bow and say-my God, thy will be done. LESSON CXI. /. What is Time?-MARSDEN. 1. I ASKED an aged man, a man of cares, Wrinkled, and curved, and white with hoary hairs; 2. I asked the ancient, venerable dead, 3. I asked a dying sinner, ere the tide Of life had left his veins: "Time !" he replied; 66 4. I asked the golden sun, and silver spheres, 5. I asked the Seasons, in their annual round, 6. I asked a spirit lost; but oh, the shriek 7. Of things inanimate, my dial I Consulted, and it made me this reply:- 8. I asked my Bible; and methinks it said, 9. I asked old Father Time himself, at last, 10. I asked the mighty Angel* who shall stand One foot on sea, and one on solid land; "I now declare, the mystery is o'er Time was," he cried, "but Time shall be no more!" * See Revelation, chap. x. LESSON CXII. Casabianca.-MRS. HEMANS. Young Casabianca, a boy about thirteen years old, son to the admiral of the Orient, remained at his post, (in the battle of the Nile,) after the ship had taken fire, and all the guns had been abandoned; and perished in the explosion of the vessel, when the flames had reached the powder. 1. THE boy stood on the burning deck, 2. Yet beautiful and bright he stood, A proud, though child-like form. 3. The flames roll'd on-he would not go, 4. He call'd aloud-"Say, father, say He knew not that the chieftain lay 5. "Speak, father!" once again he cried, -And but the booming shots replied, 6. Upon his brow he felt their breath, And look'd from that lone post of death, 7. And shouted but once more aloud, 66 My father! must I stay?" While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud, 8. They wrapt the ship in splendor wild, And streamed above the gallant child, 9. There came a burst of thunder sound- 10. With mast and helm, and pennon* fair, LESSON CXIII. The Just Judge.-ANONYMOUS. 1. A GENTLEMAN, who possessed an estate, worth about five hundred a year, in the eastern part of England, had also two sons. The eldest, being of a rambling disposition, went abroad. After several years, his father died; when the younger son, destroying his will, seized upon the estate. He gave out that his elder brother was dead, and bribed false witnesses to attest the truth of it. 2. In the course of time, the elder brother returned; but came home in miserable circumstances. His younger brother repulsed him with scorn, and told him that he was an impostor and a cheat. He asserted that his real brother was dead long ago; and he could bring witnesses to prove it. The poor fellow, having neither money nor friends, was in a most dismal situation. He went round the parish making complaints, and, at last to a lawyer, who, when he had heard the poor man's story, replied, "You have nothing to give me. If I undertake your cause and lose it, it will bring me into disgrace, as all the wealth and evidence are on your brother's side. 3. "But, however, I will undertake your cause on this condition: you shall enter into an obligation to pay me one thou sand guíneas, if I gain the estate for you. If I lose it, I know the consequences; and I venture with my eyes open." Accordingly, he entered an action against the younger brother, which was to be tried at the next general assizest at Chelmsford, in Essex. 4. The lawyer, having engaged in the cause of the young man, and stimulated by the prospect of a thousand guineas, set his wits to work to contrive the best methods to gain his end. At last he hit upon this happy thought, that he would consult * Pennon, a small flag, or banner. + As-si'-zes, a court in England. |