PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED. A FABLE. I shall not ask Jean Jaques Rosseau,* 'Tis clear that they were always able A story of a cock and bull, Must have a most uncommon skull. To forestall sweet St. Valentine, It was one of the whimsical speculations of this philo sopher, that all fables, which ascribe reason and speech to animals, should be withheld from children, as being only vehicles of deception. But what child was ever deceived by them, or can be, against the evidence of the senses? 260 PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED. And with much twitter and much chatter, At length a Bulfinch, who could boast My friends! be cautious how ye treat A Finch, whose tongue knew no control, With golden wing, and satin poll, A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried By his good will would keep us single Till death exterminate us all. My dear Dick Redcap, what say you? Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling, Turning short round, strutting, and sideling, Attested, glad, his approbation Of an immediate conjugation. Their sentiments so well express'd, All pair'd and each pair built a nest. But though the birds were thus in haste, The leaves came on not quite so fast, PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED. An aspect stern on man's affairs, 261 The wind of late breath'd gently forth, MORAL. Misses! the tale that I relate THE ROSE. The Rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a show'r, Which Mary to Anna convey'd, The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flow'r, And weigh'd down its beautiful head. The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, To weep for the buds it had left with regret, I hastily seized it, unfit as it was And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, THE NEGRO'S COMPLAINT. FORC'D from home and all its pleasures, Still in thought as free as ever, Cannot forfeit Nature's claim; Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in white and black the same. Why did all-creating Nature Make the plant for which we toilSighs must fan it, tears must water, Sweat of ours must dress the soil. |