“No longer mourn thy pilgrimage below—
O Jacob! let thy tears no longer swell
The torrent of the Egyptian river: Lo!
Soon on the Jordan’s banks thy tents
shall dwell;
And Goshen shall behold thy people go
Despite the power of Egypt’s law
and brand,
From their sad thrall to Canaan’s
promised land.
“The King of Plagues, the Chosen of Sinai,
Is he that, o’er the rushing waters
driven,
A vigorous hand hath rescued for the sky;
Ye whose proud hearts disown the ways
of heaven!
Attend, be humble! for its power is nigh
Israel! a cradle shall redeem thy worth—
A Cradle yet shall save the widespread
earth!”
Dublin University Magazine, 1839
("L’Avarice et l’Envie.")
[LE CONSERVATEUR LIITERAIRE, 1820.]
Envy and Avarice, one summer day,
Sauntering abroad
In quest of the abode
Of some poor wretch or fool who lived that way—
You—or myself, perhaps—I cannot
say—
Along the road, scarce heeding where it tended,
Their way in sullen, sulky silence wended;
For, though twin sisters, these two charming creatures,
Rivals in hideousness of form and features,
Wasted no love between them as they went.
Pale Avarice,
With gloating eyes,
And back and shoulders almost double bent,
Was hugging close that fatal box
For which she’s ever
on the watch
Some glance to catch
Suspiciously directed to its locks;
And Envy, too, no doubt with silent winking
At her green, greedy orbs,
no single minute
Withdrawn from it, was hard a-thinking
Of all the shining dollars
in it.
The only words that Avarice could utter,
Her constant doom, in a low, frightened mutter,
“There’s not enough,
enough, yet in my store!”
While Envy, as she scanned the glittering sight,
Groaned as she gnashed her yellow teeth with spite,
“She’s more than
me, more, still forever more!”
Thus, each in her own fashion, as they wandered,
Upon the coffer’s precious contents pondered,
When suddenly, to their surprise,
The God Desire stood before
their eyes.
Desire, that courteous deity who grants
All wishes, prayers, and wants;
Said he to the two sisters: “Beauteous
ladies,
As I’m a gentleman, my task and trade is
To be the slave of your behest—
Choose therefore at your own sweet will and pleasure,
Honors or treasure!
Or in one word, whatever you’d
like best.
But, let us understand each other—she
Who speaks the first, her prayer shall certainly
Receive—the other,
the same boon redoubled!”
Imagine how our amiable pair,
At this proposal, all so frank and fair,
Were mutually troubled!
Misers and enviers, of our human race,
Say, what would you have done in such a case?
Each of the sisters murmured, sad and low
“What boots it, oh,
Desire, to me to have
Crowns, treasures, all the
goods that heart can crave,
Or power divine bestow,
Since still another must have always more?”
