Page images
PDF
EPUB

54

SPECIMENS OF THE RABBINICAL APOLOGUE.

9 And he that drinketh the third pottle, behold, is he not a swine?

10 Whence cometh the saying of the wise man, The wine entereth, and the wit goeth out.

11 And also that other saying, By three things shalt thou judge a man: by his purse, his passion, and his pottle.

12 For whoso spendeth what he hath in moderation, and setteth bounds to his wrath, and exceedeth not the first pottle, wherein is the spirit of the lamb, he only is wise and prudent, and his household is established.

SONNETS FROM THE GERMAN OF GLÜCK.

DOMINECHINO'S BAPTISM.

DAY gently dawning through a temple dim,
Reveals the whiteness of a marble fount;
While from the censer swinging o'er its brim,

Like heavenly dreams slow clouds of perfume mount.
I see, half-veiled, a pale young mother stand,
Solemnly listening with no tearless
eye;
Within her serious lord's she rests her hand;
Attendant maids with downcast looks are by.
A venerable saint, with beard of snow,

With countenance all awful, all benign, Upholds the infant o'er the blessed wave:Smile on, fair babe; yet when these waters flow, And thy soft brow receives thy Saviour's sign, What marvel if the circling air be grave.

DOMINECHINO'S CONFIRMATION.

UPON the altar steps behold her kneel!
While o'er that brow the mitred man of God
Stretcheth the symbol-crucifix abroad,

This covenant hath its token and its seal.

Who may the heavings of that heart reveal,

That warm young heart with holiest thoughts

o'erflowing;

Whose aspirations, ever upward going,

God's angels share, and man can never feel!
O virgin innocence, and virgin zeal,

Ye only dwell together!-Must this earth,
This staining earth, on that pure bosom steal?-
Chastise this joy serene to human mirth,
Or steep these flowers of heavenly bloom below
The black and weltering waves of human wo?

DOMINECHINO'S MARRIAGE.

A SCENE of splendour!-Day's broad beam is quenched

Amidst the blaze of torches, whose rich glare Spreads purple glory o'er the perfumed air, Yet cannot stain one cheek surpassing fair, Whose loveliness by natural awe is blenched, Beneath the clusters of her jewell'd hair.Soft pride, be sure, and gentle gladness there, 'Mid these pale tremours are in mystery blending ;Though scarce to feel her joy the maiden dare, High beats that heart beneath its burden bending. Religion sanctifies the peerless hour,

When Love's long dream in bliss undoubted closes, Calms Passion's front with her serener power, And weaves eternal amaranths with the roses.

DOMINECHINO'S CLEOPATRA.

STILL lingers on her cheek a sunset glow, Though all the shades of eve are in her eye; Love was her life, and lovely must she die ;Rich-rich those lips, with all their weight of wo. Her fingers have unbound the golden clasp ;

That bosom bursting with life's purple dew,

Bares all its heaving beauty to the asp,

As if some long-lost lover's lip to woo. What luxuries of passion, and what pangs, Were her imperial portion.-Gorgeous Flower !How darkly are thy bright leaves closed at last! I see the type of thy foul-circling fangs, Remorse! She drinks the poison of thy power: The Future is less fearful than the Past.

THOUGHTS ON BORES.

BY A BORE.

THE beginning, says Aristotle, is that before which nothing naturally comes, and after which something naturally follows. There can be little doubt, that bores existed in ancient as well as in modern times, though the deluge has unluckily swept away all traces of the antediluvian bore,-a creature which analogy leads us to believe must have been of formidable power. Of the primitive bore, from which it is conjectured by some, though not by me, that the quakers descended, not a bone is to be found in any of the primitive strata, as far as I can learn from the geologists, who have made most diligent and most ineffectual search,-one fossil biped only excepted, which is said to be preserved in some cabinet in Germany.

Much learning might be displayed, and much time wasted, on an inquiry into the derivation, descent, and etymology of the animal under consideration ; suffice it to say, that, for my own part, diligence hath not been wanting in the research.-Johnson's Dictionary and old Bailey have been ransacked; but neither the learned Johnson nor the recondite Bailey throw much light upon this matter. The slang dic

« PreviousContinue »