Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

(For he had never felt control);

At length a flood of tears reliev'd his swelling soul.
Flora, diverted at such childish grief,

Yet willing to encourage him, approach'd again :
"My son," she said, "thy tears are vain ;
"But take my counsel, you will find relief.
"Courage and perseverance never fail :
"First o'er the thorns prevail,
"Each difficulty you will then remove,
"And gain the object of your love.”

To this, each little student may compare
The hours of learning, often mix'd with care;
Yet while the road to knowledge is in view,
With diligence its winding paths pursue,
And though some briers on the way appear,
Those will be conquer'd if you persevere;
And having well employ'd your youthful hours,
Reap with advantage time's most precious flow'rs.
ANONYMOUS.

THE BEARS AND THE BEES.

As two young bears in wanton mood,
Forth issuing from a neighbouring wood,
Came where th' industrious bees had stor❜d,
In artful cells, their luscious hoard;

O'erjoy'd they seiz'd, with eager haste,
Luxurious on the rich repast.

Alarm'd at this, the little crew

About their ears vindictive flew.
The beasts, unable to sustain

Th' unequal combat, quit the plain;
Half blind with rage, and mad with pain,
Their native shelter they regain ;

There sit, and now discreeter grown,
Too late their rashness they bemoan;
And this by dear experience gain,
That pleasure's ever bought with pain.
So when the gilded baits of vice
Are placed before our longing eyes,
With greedy haste we snatch our fill,
And swallow down the latent ill:
But when experience opes our eyes,
Away the fancied pleasure flies.
It flies, but oh! too late we find,
It leaves a real sting behind.

MERRICK.

THE NEGRO'S COMPLAINT.
FORC'D from home and all its pleasures,
Afric's coast I left forlorn ;
To increase a stranger's treasures,
O'er the raging billows borne.

Men from England bought and sold me,
Paid my price in paltry gold;
But, though their's they have enroll'd me,
Minds are never to be sold.

Still in thought as free as ever,

What are England's rights, Í ask,

Me from my delights to sever,
Me to torture, me to task?
Fleecy locks and black complexion
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim;

Skins may differ, but affection

Dwells in white and black the same.

Why did all-creating Nature

Make the plant for which we toil? Sighs must fan it, tears must water,

Sweat of ours must dress the soil. Think, ye masters, iron-hearted,

Lolling at your jovial boards; Think, how many backs have smarted For the sweets your cane affords.

Is there, as ye sometimes tells us,
Is there One, who reigns on high?
Has he bid you buy and sell us,
Speaking from his throne, the sky?
Ask him, if your knotted scourges,
Matches, blood-extorting screws,
Are the means which duty urges,
Agents of his will to use?

Hark! he answers-Wild tornadoes,
Strewing yonder sea with wrecks;
Wasting towns, plantations, meadows,
Are the voice with which he speaks.
He, foreseeing what vexations
Afric's sons should undergo,

Fix'd their tyrants' habitations
Where his whirlwinds answer-No.

By our blood in Afric wasted,

Ere our necks receiv'd the chain; By the miseries we have tasted, Crossing in your barks the main : By our sufferings, since ye brought us To the man-degrading mart, All sustain'd by patience, taught us, Only by a broken heart!

Deem our nation brutes no longer,

Till some reason ye shall find,
Worthier of regard, and stronger,
Than the colour of our kind.
Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings
Tarnish all your boasted powers,
Prove that you have human feelings,

Ere you proudly question ours!

COWPER.

THE SHEPHERD AND THE PHILOSOPHER.

REMOTE from cities liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was silver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him sage ;
In summer's heat, and winter's cold,
He fed his flock, and penn'd the fold;
His hours in cheerful labour flew,
Nor envy, nor ambition knew ;
His wisdom, and his honest fame,
Through all the country rais'd his name.
A deep philosopher (whose rules
Of moral life were drawn from schools)

« ForrigeFortsett »