I hate those trills, and shakes, and sounds that float
Upon the captive air; I know no note,
Nor ever shall, whatever folks may say,
Of the strange mysteries of Sol and Fa;
I sit at oratorios like a fish,
Incapable of sound, and only wish
The thing was over. Yet do I admire,
O tuneful daughter of a tuneful sire,
Thy painful labours in a science, which
To your deserts I pray may make you rich
As much as you are loved, and add a grace
To the most musical Novello race.
Women lead men by the nose, some cynics say;
You draw them by the ear—a delicater way.
THE SISTERS
On Emma’s honest brow we read display’d
The constant virtues of the Nut Brown Maid;
Mellifluous sounds on Clara’s tongue we hear,
Notes that once lured a Seraph from his sphere;
Cecilia’s eyes such winning beauties crown
As without song might draw her Angel down.
LOVE WILL COME
Tune—The Tartar Drum
I
Guard thy feelings, pretty
Vestal,
From the smooth Intruder free;
Cage thy heart in bars of chrystal,
Lock it with a golden key:
Thro’ the bars demurely stealing,
Noiseless footstep, accent dumb,
His approach to none revealing—
Watch, or watch not, LOVE WILL COME.
His approach to none revealing—
Watch, or watch not, Love will come—Love,
Watch, or watch not, Love will come.
II
Scornful Beauty may deny him—
He hath spells to charm disdain;
Homely Features may defy him—
Both at length must wear the chain.
Haughty Youth in Courts of Princes—
Hermit poor with age o’er come—
His soft plea at last convinces;
Sooner, later, LOVE WILL COME.
His soft plea at length
convinces;
Sooner, later, Love will come—Love,
Sooner, later, Love will come.
TO MARGARET W——
Margaret, in happy hour
Christen’d from that humble flower
Which we a daisy[17] call!
May thy pretty name-sake be
In all things a type of thee,
And image thee in all.
[Footnote 17: Marguerite, in French, signifies a daisy. [Note in Athenaeum.]]
To Margaret W——
Like it you show a
modest face,
An unpretending native grace;—
The tulip, and the pink,
The china and the damask rose,
And every flaunting flower that blows,
In the comparing shrink.
Of lowly fields you think
no scorn;
Yet gayest gardens would adorn,
And grace, wherever set.
Home-seated in your lonely bower,
Or wedded—a transplanted flower—
I bless you, Margaret!
EDMONTON, 8_th October_, 1834.
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