Thither he ran, and he bent him low, He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow, As ever fairy had paddled in, For she glowed with purple paint without, A sculler's notch in the stern he made, An oar he shaped of the bootle-blade; Then sprung to his seat with a lightsome leap, And launched afar, on the calm, blue deep! No American can forget that to Drake we are indebted for our National Ode, which commences, When Freedom, from her mountain height, Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night, And set the stars of glory there! She mingled with its gorgeous dyes The symbol of her chosen land. Another of our American bards, SPRAGUE, has given us the following sweet bird-song: suggested by seeing two swallows flying into a church in Boston : Gay, guiltless pair, what seek ye from the fields of heaven? The poem by which this author is most known, entitled Curiosity, has a singular history. Griswold states that it was published in Calcutta a few years ago as an original production by a British officer, with no other alterations than the omission of a few American names, and the insertion of others in their places; and in this form. it was reprinted in London, where it was much praised. Now listen to the following song : Day, in melting purple dying, I am sick of loneliness. Save thy toiling, spare thy treasure, Tell to thee the high-wrought feeling, Paint to thee the deep sensation, Rapture in participation,— Yet but torture, if comprest In a lone, unfriended breast. These glowing stanzas, from MRS. BROOKS's Zophiel,—an exquisite story of a Jewish exiled maiden and her lovers,-exhibit the style of the authoress, whom Southey designated, in The Doctor, as "the most impassioned and imaginative of poetesses.' Turn we for a moment to a sweet, familiar ditty-known to all lovers of lyric verse, 'tis about the little sanctuary of Home: 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, That immor Every person knows that sweet household lyric; but it is not every one who has heard the life-story of its author. tal song, so brim-full of tender pathos and natural feeling, would cause many to drop a tear of sympathy over the sad fate of its author, HOWARD PAYNE, were they to be told that,―an American adventurer in the heart of Paris, Vienna, and London, while hearing persons singing his own beautiful lines on the pleasures of home,he was not only denied the possession of one himself, but was even destitute of the necessaries of life. The following beautiful little lyric is from the pen of GENERAL BURGOYNE, of our Revolutionary annals: When first this humble roof I knew, With various care I strove; My grain was scarce, my sheep were few, By mutual toil our board was dressed, Content and peace the dwelling shared, In them was given, though gold was spared, No value has a splendid lot, But as the means to prove, Here is DARWIN's Sweet Song to May: Born in yon blaze of orient sky, Sweet May! thy radiant form unfold; And wave thy shadowy locks of gold. For thee the fragrant zephyrs blow, The rills in softer murmurs flow, And brighter blossoms gem the bower. Light graces decked in flowery wreaths, And tiptoe joys their hand combine, Warm with new life, the glittering throng, This charming American song, the Old Oaken Bucket, is by WOODWORTH : How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, |