Part 27 (1/2)

STILL BE A CHILD.

_(”O vous que votre age defende”)_

[IX., February, 1840.]

In youthful spirits wild, Smile, for all beams on thee; Sport, sing, be still the child, The flower, the honey-bee.

Bring not the future near, For Joy too soon declines-- What is man's mission here?

Toil, where no sunlight s.h.i.+nes!

Our lot is hard, we know; From eyes so gayly beaming, Whence rays of beauty flow, Salt tears most oft are streaming.

Free from emotions past, All joy and hope possessing, With mind in pureness cast, Sweet ignorance confessing.

Plant, safe from winds and showers, Heart with soft visions glowing, In childhood's happy hours A mother's rapture showing.

Loved by each anxious friend, No carking care within-- When summer gambols end, My winter sports begin.

Sweet poesy from heaven Around thy form is placed, A mother's beauty given, By father's thought is graced!

Seize, then, each blissful second, Live, for joy _sinks in night_, And those whose tale is reckoned, Have had their days of light.

Then, oh! before we part, The poet's blessing take, Ere bleeds that aged heart, Or child the woman make.

_Dublin University Magazine_.

THE POOL AND THE SOUL.

_(”Comme dans les etangs.”)_

[X., May, 1839.]

As in some stagnant pool by forest-side, In human souls two things are oft descried; The sky,--which tints the surface of the pool With all its rays, and all its shadows cool; The basin next,--where gloomy, dark and deep, Through slime and mud black reptiles vaguely creep.

R.F. HODGSON

YE MARINERS WHO SPREAD YOUR SAILS.

_(”Matelots, vous deploirez les voiles.”)_

[XVI., May 5, 1839.]