INTENDED FOR AN ARBOUR AT BLACKHEATH, Erected on the Grounds of Sir Gregory Page, and in view of the STRANGER or friend, whose steps have reach'd this spot, a The mansion of Sir Gregory Page Turner, now in ruins. SONNET TO SPRING. I LOVE to scent the early vernal air, To seek the violet in its deep recess, To tear the primrose from its humble bed, And bid them shed their beauties round my home; Or if perchance the bubbling brook is near, I haste and pluck the cool refreshing cress. What though the atmosphere be damp and chill, Brisk exercise can chase these ills MOONLIGHT SKETCH FROM THE PIER OF RAMSGATE, 1806. How sweetly on the surface of the sea, That brilliant gem emits;-the flowing tide. Urges its silvery wave along the sands Like liquid ore pour'd from the melted mass; The light-house throws its broad and dazzling light, A friendly beacon to the tempest-tost, Benighted mariner; it seems to say, From dangerous seas here calm and safety dwell. The Pier, a vast, stupendous work of art, ON ADVERSITY. MISFORTUNE's hand may tear away my wealth, The pomp of groves, the sweets of early morn, The rural walk at eve, or the more calm And solemn hour of night: she cannot shade The spangled firmament, through which the mind, Sublime, to untold worlds-to nature's God: She cannot rob me of my hopes of heaven. SENT TO THE LATE MRS. S. PARSONS OF MELKSHAM, WITH AN EDITION OF ROGERS'S PLEASURES OF MEMORY,' NEATLY BOUND IN WHITE CALF. Go! little book! unadorned as thou art, and insensible of thy happy destiny; oft may thy chaste page recal to remembrance of my absent friend the pleasing incidents of hours long past, which, tenderly treasured in memory, possess more than the energies of present pleasures. Should any inquire, why sent on such an embassy in so plain an attire? Why you were not gorgeously decorated and covered with the crimson mantle? Tell them, that she whom you are destined to charm, regards not the tinselled exterior, too often the substitute of internal worth; tell them, that she whose hours you occasionally may beguile is herself an example, how preferable are the adornings of a meek and quiet spirit, to the gaudy trappings of fashion's favourite daughters. |