Verses and Translations | Page 6

a bran-new halter,
And I'll perish without remorse.
LINES SUGGESTED BY THE FOURTEENTH OF FEBRUARY.
Ere the morn the East has crimsoned,
When the stars are twinkling there,?(As they did in Watts's Hymns, and
Made him wonder what they were:)?When the forest-nymphs are beading
Fern and flower with silvery dew -?My infallible proceeding
Is to wake, and think of you.
When the hunter's ringing bugle
Sounds farewell to field and copse,?And I sit before my frugal
Meal of gravy-soup and chops:?When (as Gray remarks) "the moping
Owl doth to the moon complain,"?And the hour suggests eloping -
Fly my thoughts to you again.
May my dreams be granted never?
Must I aye endure affliction?Rarely realised, if ever,
In our wildest works of fiction??Madly Romeo loved his Juliet;
Copperfield began to pine?When he hadn't been to school yet -
But their loves were cold to mine.
Give me hope, the least, the dimmest,
Ere I drain the poisoned cup:?Tell me I may tell the chymist
Not to make that arsenic up!?Else, this heart shall soon cease throbbing;
And when, musing o'er my bones,?Travellers ask, "Who killed Cock Robin?"?They'll be told, "Miss Sarah J-s."
A, B, C.
A is an Angel of blushing eighteen:?B is the Ball where the Angel was seen:?C is her Chaperone, who cheated at cards:?D is the Deuxtemps, with Frank of the Guards:?E is the Eye which those dark lashes cover:?F is the Fan it peeped wickedly over:?G is the Glove of superlative kid:?H is the Hand which it spitefully hid:?I is the Ice which spent nature demanded:?J is the Juvenile who hurried to hand it:?K is the Kerchief, a rare work of art:?L is the Lace which composed the chief part.?M is the old Maid who watch'd the girls dance:?N is the Nose she turned up at each glance:?O is the Olga (just then in its prime):?P is the Partner who wouldn't keep time:?Q 's a Quadrille, put instead of the Lancers:?R the Remonstrances made by the dancers:?S is the Supper, where all went in pairs:?T is the Twaddle they talked on the stairs:?U is the Uncle who 'thought we'd be going':?V is the Voice which his niece replied 'No' in:?W is the Waiter, who sat up till eight:?X is his Exit, not rigidly straight:?Y is a Yawning fit caused by the Ball:?Z stands for Zero, or nothing at all.
TO MRS. GOODCHILD.
The night-wind's shriek is pitiless and hollow,
The boding bat flits by on sullen wing,?And I sit desolate, like that "one swallow"
Who found (with horror) that he'd not brought spring: Lonely as he who erst with venturous thumb?Drew from its pie-y lair the solitary plum.
And to my gaze the phantoms of the Past,
The cherished fictions of my boyhood, rise:?I see Red Ridinghood observe, aghast,
The fixed expression of her grandam's eyes;?I hear the fiendish chattering and chuckling?Which those misguided fowls raised at the Ugly Duckling.
The House that Jack built--and the Malt that lay
Within the House--the Rat that ate the Malt -?The Cat, that in that sanguinary way
Punished the poor thing for its venial fault -?The Worrier-Dog--the Cow with Crumpled horn -?And then--ah yes! and then--the Maiden all forlorn!
O Mrs. Gurton--(may I call thee Gammer?)
Thou more than mother to my infant mind!?I loved thee better than I loved my grammar -
I used to wonder why the Mice were blind,?And who was gardener to Mistress Mary,?And what--I don't know still--was meant by "quite contrary"?
"Tota contraria," an "Arundo Cami"
Has phrased it--which is possibly explicit,?Ingenious certainly--but all the same I
Still ask, when coming on the word, 'What is it?'?There were more things in Mrs. Gurton's eye,?Mayhap, than are dreamed of in our philosophy.
No doubt the Editor of 'Notes and Queries'
Or 'Things not generally known' could tell?That word's real force--my only lurking fear is
That the great Gammer "didna ken hersel":?(I've precedent, yet feel I owe apology?For passing in this way to Scottish phraseology).
Alas, dear Madam, I must ask your pardon
For making this unwarranted digression,?Starting (I think) from Mistress Mary's garden:-
And beg to send, with every expression?Of personal esteem, a Book of Rhymes,?For Master G. to read at miscellaneous times.
There is a youth, who keeps a 'crumpled Horn,'
(Living next me, upon the selfsame story,)?And ever, 'twixt the midnight and the morn,
He solaces his soul with Annie Laurie.?The tune is good; the habit p'raps romantic;?But tending, if pursued, to drive one's neighbours frantic.
And now,--at this unprecedented hour,
When the young Dawn is "trampling out the stars," -?I hear that youth--with more than usual power
And pathos--struggling with the first few bars.?And I do think the amateur cornopean?Should be put down by law--but that's perhaps Utopian.
Who knows what "things unknown" I might have "bodied
Forth," if not checked by that absurd Too-too??But don't I know that when my friend has plodded
Through the first verse, the second will ensue??Considering which, dear Madam, I will merely?Send the aforesaid book--and am yours most sincerely.
ODE--'ON A DISTANT PROSPECT' OF MAKING A FORTUNE.
Now the "rosy morn appearing"
Floods with light the dazzled heaven;?And the schoolboy groans on hearing
That