SOLITUDE. To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell, Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, This is not solitude; 'tis but to hold Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled. But midst the crowd, the hum, the shock of men, To hear, to see, to feel, and to possess, And roam along, the world's tired denizen, With none who bless us, none whom we can bless; DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And there lay the rider distorted and pale, And the widows of Ashur are laid in their wail, And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, THE EAST. Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine; Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom; Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, And the voice of the nightingale never is mute; Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky, In color though varied, in beauty may vie, And the purple of ocean is deepest in die; Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, And all, save the spirit of man, is divine? 'Tis the clime of the East; 'tis the land of the sun Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell. THE COLISEUM BY MOONLIGHT. The stars are forth, the moon above the tops I learned the language of another world. I do remember me, that in my youth, 'Midst the chief relics of all-mighty Rome: Within a bowshot. Where the Cæsars dwelt, A grove which springs through levelled battlements, While Cæsar's chambers and the Augustan halls And thou didst shine, thou rolling moon, upon As 'twere anew, the gaps of centuries; And making that which was not, till the place The dead, but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule A SHIPWRECK. The other boats, the yawl and pinnace, had As there were but two blankets for a sail, Threw in by good luck over the ship's rail; And two boats could not hold, far less be stored, To save one half the people then on board. 'Twas twilight, for the sunless day went down At half-past eight o'clock, booms, hen-coops, spars, For yet they strove, although of no great use: There was no light in heaven but a few stars; The boats put off o'ercrowded with their crews; She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port, And, going down head-foremost-sunk, in short. Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell! Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave; Then some leap'd overboard with dreadful yell, And the sea yawn'd around her like a hell, And down she suck'd with her the whirling wave, Like one who grapples with his enemy, And strives to strangle him before he die. And first one universal shriek there rush'd, Accompanied with a convulsive splash, A solitary shriek-the bubbling cry Of some strong swimmer in his agony. The seventh day, and no wind-the burning sun (Although they spoke not) in their wolfish eyes. An ominous, and wild, and desperate sound; There were two fathers in this ghastly crew, And with them their two sons, of whom the one Was more robust and hardy to the view, But he died early; and when he was gone, His nearest messmate told his sire, who threw One glance on him, and said, "Heaven's will be done! I can do nothing!" and he saw him thrown Into the deep, without a tear or groan. The other father had a weaklier child, Of a soft cheek, and aspect delicate; He saw increasing on his father's heart, And o'er him bent his sire, and never raised His eyes from off his face, but wiped the foam From his pale lips, and ever on him gazed; And when the wish'd-for shower at length was come, The boy expired-the father held the clay, 'Twas borne by the rude wave wherein 'twas cast; ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD, 1743-1825. ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD, a name long dear to the admirers of genius and the lovers of virtue, was the eldest child and only daughter of the Rev. John Aikin, master of a boys' school in the village of Kibworth Harcourt, in Leicestershire, and was born in that place on the 20th of June, 1743. In her very earliest childhood she discovered remarkable powers of mind, being able to read quite well at two and a half years of age. Her education was conducted by her father, and was of a very solid character; and though at that day there was a strong prejudice against imparting to females any tincture of classical learning, she devoted a portion of her time to the study of Latin, and before she was fifteen she had read many authors in that language with pleasure and advantage: nor did she rest satisfied without gaining some acquaintance with the Greek. In 1758, when Miss Aikin had just attained the age of fifteen, her father removed from the somewhat obscure village of Kibworth to take charge of the classical department in the "dissenting" academy at Warrington, in Lancashire, to which he had been invited. In the cultivated society of this place, she found most congenial associates, and here for fifteen years she passed probably the happiest, as well as the most brilliant, portion of her existence. In 1773, she was induced by her brother to collect the various poems she had from time to time written, and arrange them for publication. She did so; and with so much favor were they received by the public, that four editions were called for within that year. Her brother also induced her to join him in forming a small volume of prose pieces, which was published that same year, under the title of "Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose, by J. and A. L. Aikin." These likewise met with much approbation, and have been several times reprinted. |