To have renewed the joys that once were mine, And while the wings of fancy still are free, LOVE FOR OUR NATIVE LAND. ENGLAND, with all thy faults, I love thee still- 18 mimic, imitative. 1 constrained, forced. 2 Ausonia, the country of the Ausones. From Auson, a son of Ulysses and Calypso, but here, generally, for Italy. Frown at effeminates,3 whose very looks 4 Should England prosper, when such things, as smooth And tender as a girl, all-essenced o'er With odours, and as profligate as sweet; Who sell their laurel for a myrtle wreath, And love when they should fight;5 when such as these Presume to lay their hand upon the ark Of her magnificent and awful cause ? Time was when it was praise and boast enough That Chatham's" language was his mother tongue, And Chatham, heart-sick of his country's shame." 3 effeminates, women-like men. was taken, was completed in song writer, dramatist, and musician. "The Dashing White Serjeant" is one of his songs. He had sought the poet's "myrtle," rather than the soldier's "laurels." 6 Lord Chatham. 7 General Wolfe. 8 At the battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759, which won Canada for us. 9 Lord Chatham died in the House of Lords, in 1778. They made us many soldiers. Chatham, still If any wrong'd her. Wolfe, where'er he fought, That his example had a magnet's force, Mrs. Barbauld was the daughter of the Rev. John Aikin, of Leicester, and the wife of the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld. In conjunction with her brother she wrote the famous book, "Evenings at Home," and was, besides, a voluminous writer in prose and verse. LIFE. LIFE! we've been long together, Through pleasant and through cloudy weather, 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time, Say not "Good night," but in some brighter clime 6 C. DIBDIN.-Born, 1745; Died, 1814. Charles Dibdin was an admirable writer of sea-songs, of which he composed no fewer than about 1200. He enjoyed a pension of £200 a year from Government in consideration of his services to the nation as their author. BEFORE BATTLE. THE signal to engage shall be Be one and all but firm, like me, Be one and all but firm, like me, Keep, boys, a good look out, d'ye hear? Be one and all but firm, like me, All hands then, lads, the ship to clear; K Silent as death th' attack prepare; Be one and all but firm, like me, 7 BRITANNIA'S NAME. BRITANNIA's name, from age to age, On which the industrious peasantry, All, all shall hail Britannia's name, Then sing our tars, who boldly roam Our glory to insure; And sing our soldiers, who at home And sing our peasants, at a word, Who, of mankind the friend, Would turn each ploughshare to a sword, Their country to defend. All, all shall sing Britannia's name, As glory hands it down to fame! |