THE FAITHFUL SAILOR. [Tune "When my money was gone that I gain'd in the wars."] HOW gloomy the evening! how dark is the sky, The rain in a deluge pours down from on high; Thus while o'er the ocean unfriended I roam, pour, Cold and wet by the torrents that Time was when thus lonely and cheerless to lie And the wish for a calm would have brought forth a sigh From this unresting bosom of mine. Time was-but it was ere the impulse of love As the wretch whom hard nature has stinted of sight Sits for ever in darkness forlorn, Nor e'er hail'd the day-spring with rising delight, Nor the mellow moon's westering horn. So dark and uncheery my bosom remain'd, Nor knew what delight was from love to be gain'd, But since first, lovely maiden, thy beauty I knew, My warm fancy doats on thy form; 'Mid the dark gloom of night it still dawns on my view And steals me away from the storm. Still then o'er my bosom thy empire maintain, For my soul shall not feel disappointment or pain But while thus in gay dreams I forget that I rove, And though to the soul the reflection be dear SONNET. Written on passing in sight of the island of St. Mary, one of the Azores. 'GIRT with rude rocks, whose foot the ocean laves, While o'er their steep the frequent tempests roar; St. Mary's! rising o'er the rolling waves, The glad eye hails thy mist-encircled shore. Fain o'er thy sun-clad summit would I rove, For sure in this so far sequester'd isle Shall simple truth and ancient faith be found, And care unhallow'd fly this favour'd ground; * From the number of these birds observed about them, these islands have their name, which is derived from a Portuguese word. TÆDIUM VITE. "What is life but to wake and to eat, to eat and to sleep gain?-And is this worth living for?" HOW long shall lazy time around Till I the promis'd shelter gain Oh, Ruler of my wayward fate! If 'mid the gloom of night I stray, Oh frown not on my darkling way, But guide me wandering, help me weak. Cold, tasteless, in this spot below Are all the boasted joys we prize, Nor value aught beneath the skies. |