ON THE DEATH OF MRS. (now LADY) THROCKMORTON'S BULFINCH. YE nymphs! if e'er your eyes were red Her fav'rite, even in his cage, (What will not hunger's cruel rage?) Assassin'd by a thief. Where Rhenus strays his vines among, Or only with a whistle blest, The honours of his ebon poll Were brighter than the sleekest mole; With which Aurora decks the skies, 214 LADY THROCKMORTON'S BULFINCH Above, below, in all the house, Well-lattic'd-but the grate, alas! But smooth with wands from Ouse's side, Night veil'd the pole, all seem'd secure : A beast forth sallied on the scout, He, ent'ring at the study door, And something in the wind Just then, by adverse fate impress'd, LADY THROCKMORTON'S BULFINCH. 215 A rat fast clinging to the cage, For, aided both by ear and scent, His teeth were strong, the cage was wood- O had he made that too his prey; That beak whence issued many a lay Of such mellifluous tone, Might have repaid him well, I wote, Maria weeps-the Muses mourn- The tree-enchanter Orpheus fell, The cruel death he died. THE ROSE. THE Rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a show'r The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flow'r, The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, To weep for the buds it had left with regret, I hastily seiz'd it, unfit as it was For a nosegay, so dripping and drown'd, And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, Might have bloom'd with its owner a while; And the tear, that is wip'd with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile. THE DOVES: *I. REAS'NING at ev'ry step he treads, While meaner things, whom instinct leads, II. One silent eve I wander'd late, And heard the voice of love; The turtle thus address'd her mate, Our mutual bond of faith and truth IV. While innocence without disguise, And constancy sincere, Shall fill the circles of those eyes, Those ills, that wait on all below, Shall ne'er be felt by me, Or gently felt, and only so, As being shar'd with thee. 20 VOL. I. |