SONNETS.

SONNETS.

I.

THE FIRST-BORN,

NEVER did music sink into my soul
So 'silver sweet,' as when thy first weak wail
On my 'rapt ear in doubtful murmurs stole,
Thou child of love and promise!—What a tale
Of hopes and fears, of gladness and of gloom,
Hung on that slender filament of sound!
Life's guileless pleasures, and its griefs profound,
Seemed mingling in thy horoscope of doom.
Thy bark is launched, and lifted is thy sail
Upon the weltering billows of the world;
But oh! may winds far gentler than have hurled
My struggling vessel on, for thee prevail:
Or, if thy voyage must be rough,-may'st thou
Soon 'scape the storm and be—as blest as I am now!

K

II.

WRITTEN AT CLARENS.

STRANGER! if from the crowded walks of life
Thou lov'st to stray, and woo fair Solitude
Amid her woodland haunts;-silent to brood,
(Apart from worldly vanities, and strife,)

'O'er nature's charms, and see her stores unrolled,' Let this sweet spot thy roving steps arrest.

Say, dwells the canker care within thy breast?
Lake Leman, murmuring o'er its sands of gold,
Shall soothe thee with soft music;-and thine eye,-
Although unused to glisten with delight,-
Survey the scene here opening on thy sight,
With 'raptured gaze.-Oh! if beneath the sky,
Stranger! to mortal man such seat be given,
What may HE hope, whose eye is fixed on Heaven!

ΤΟ

III.

Go! join the mincing measures of the crowd,
And be that abject thing which men call wise,
In the World's school of wisdom!—I despise
Thy proffered aid!-Go! Thou may'st court the proud,
With ready smile, and ever bended knee;
But I do scorn to owe a debt to thee

My soul could not repay.--There was a tię
(Would it existed now!) which might have kept
Peace, and good will between us :-I have wept,
With tears of wild and breathless agony,
That it should pass away;—and sought to quell
The angry thoughts that in my breast would swell,
When dwelling on my injuries:-but yet-

Though I forgive,-I never can forget!