I mourn'd the linnet-lover's fate,

Or turtle from her murder'd mate,

Condemn'd the widow'd hours to wail:
Or while the mournful vision rose,
I sought to weep for imag'd woes,
Nor real life believ'd a tragic tale!

Alas! misfortune's cloud unkind
My Summer soon o'ercast;
And cruel fate's untimely wind
All human beauty blast!

The wrath of Nature smites our bowers,
And promis'd fruits, and cherish'd flowers,
The hopes of life in embryo sweeps;
Pale o'er the ruins of his prime,

And desolate before his time,

In silence sad the mourner walks and weeps!

Relentless power! whose fated stroke
O'er wretched man prevails!

Ha! love's eternal chain is broke,
And friendship's covenant fails!
Upbraiding forms! a moment's ease-
O memory! how shall I appease

The bleeding shade, the unlaid ghost?
What charm can bind the gushing eye?
What voice console th' incessant sigh,
And everlasting longings for the lost?

Yet not unwelcome waves the wood,

That hides me in its gloom,

While lost in melancholy mood

I muse upon the tomb.

Their chequer'd leaves the branches shed,
Whirling in eddies o'er my head,

They sadly sigh, that Winter's near:

The warning voice I hear behind,

That shakes the wood without a wind,

And solemn sounds the death-bell of the year.

Nor will I court Lethean streams,

The sorrowing sense to steep;
Nor drink oblivion of the themes,
On which I love to weep.
Belated oft by fabled rill,

While nightly o'er the hallow'd hill
Aërial music seems to mourn;
I'll listen Autumn's closing strain;
Then woo the walks of youth again,

And pour my sorrows o'er th' untimely urn!

ELEGY,

WRITTEN AT

THE APPROACH OF SPRING.

[J. SCOTT.]

STERN Winter hence with all his train removes, And cheerful skies and limpid streams are seen; Thick-sprouting foliage decorates the groves; Reviving herbage clothes the fields with green.

Yet lovelier scenes th' approaching months prepare;
Kind Spring's full bounty soon will be display'd,
The smile of beauty every vale shall wear;
The voice of song enliven every shade.

O Fancy, paint not coming days too fair!
Oft for the prospects sprightly May should yield,
Rain-pouring clouds have darken'd all the air,
Or snows untimely whiten'd o'er the field:

But should kind Spring her wonted bounty show'r,
The smile of beauty and the voice of song;
If gloomy thought the human mind o'erpow'r,
Ev'n vernal hours glide unenjoy'd along.

I shun the scenes where maddening passion raves,
Where Pride and Folly high dominion hold,

And unrelenting Avarice drives her slaves
O'er prostrate Virtue in pursuit of gold.

The grassy lane, the wood-surrounded field,

The rude stone fence with fragrant wall-flowers gay, The clay-built cot, to me more pleasure yield Than all the pomp imperial domes display:

And yet ev'n here, amid these secret shades,
These simple scenes of unreprov'd delight,
Affliction's iron hand my breast invades,

And Death's dread dart is ever in my sight.

While genial suns to genial showers succeed,

(The air all mildness, and the earth all bloom); While herds and flocks range sportive o'er the mead, Crop the sweet herb, and snuff the rich perfume;

O why alone to hapless man denied

To taste the bliss inferior beings boast?

O why this fate, that fear and pain divide

His few short hours on earth's delightful coast?

Ah cease-no more of Providence complain!

'Tis sense of guilt that wakes the mind to woe, Gives force to fear, adds energy to pain,

And palls each joy by Heaven indulg'❜d below:

Why else the smiling infant train so bless'd,
Ere ill propension ripens into sin,

Ere wild desire inflames the youthful breast,
And dear-bought knowledge ends the peace within?

As to the bleating tenants of the field,

As to the sportive warblers on the trees,
To them their joys sincere the seasons yield,
And all their days and all their prospects please.

Such mine, when first, from London's crowdedstreets, Rov'd my young steps to Surry's wood-crown'd hills, O'er new-blown meads that breath'd a thousand sweets, By shady coverts and by crystal rills.

O happy hours, beyond recovery fled!
What share I now that can your loss repay,