And such my life when Hope was young,
And the bright world before me lay,
And visions of enchantment flung

Their glories on my lonely way.
Yes, such was life to me, when first

Inspired by you, my gentlest NINE, Fresh from the fount of feeling burst

The strains that wreathed your names with mine!

Ye, too, are changed: the playful child,

My Muse of mirth in other days, That bade me share her gambols wild,

And charmed me with her winning ways,

Is now a child no more ;-but moves
With slower step, sedater air;

With many a grace her poet loves,
But not the smiles she used to wear.

And ye, o'erstepping then the bound

'Twixt girlhood's bloom and woman's beauty. Whose hearts the hallowed bliss have found Of matron love, and matron duty,

Long o'er your happy circles reign,

And watch love's budding flowers unfold;

But never can you be again

The gladsome band you were of old!

Yet ye shall be my Muses still,

By Memory painted as of yore; Still shall my harp responsive thrill To spells it oft hath owned before: The meeter inspiration far

Those unambitious chords to move,

TEN YEARS AGO.

Whose cherished themes so often are

Childhood's sweet smiles, and Woman's love.

Let loftier bards their tributes bring
To nymphs of more uncertain mood;
Whilst grateful memory bids me sing
A fairer, kinder Sisterhood:

For them may Faith's bright beacon shine;
Its grace in God's good time be given;
So shall they shame the heathen NINE,
And be immortal, too, in heaven!

TEN YEARS AGO.

"That time is past,

And all its aching joys are now no more,

And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn, nor murmur; other gifts

Have followed, for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompense."

WORDSWORTH.

I.

TEN years ago, ten years ago,
Life was to us a fairy scene,

And the keen blasts of worldly woe
Had sered not then its pathway green;
Youth and its thousand dreams were ours,—
Feelings we ne'er can know again,—
Unwithered hopes, unwasted powers,
And frames unworn by mortal pain:

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Such was the bright and genial flow
Of life with us-ten years ago!

II.

Time has not blanched a single hair
That clusters round thy forehead now;
Nor hath the cankering touch of Care
Left even one furrow on thy brow.
Thine eyes are bright as when we met,
In love's deep truth, in earlier years;
Thy rosy cheek is blooming yet,

Though sometimes stained by secret tears;-
But where, oh where's the spirit's glow
That shone through all-ten years ago!

III.

I, too, am changed, I scarce know why;
I feel each flagging pulse decay;
And youth, and health, and visions high,
Melt like a wreath of snow away!
Time cannot sure have wrought the ill;

Though worn in this world's sickening strife

In soul and form,-I linger still

In the first summer month of life;

Yet journey on my path below,—
Oh, how unlike-ten years ago!

IV.

But look not thus; I would not give

The wreck of hopes that thou must share,

To bid those joyous hours revive,

When all around me seemed so fair:

TEN YEARS AGO.

We've wandered on in sunny weather,

When winds were low and flowers in bloom;
And hand in hand have kept together,

And still will keep, 'mid storm and gloom;
Endeared by ties we could not know,
When life was young-ten years ago!

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V.

Has Fortune frowned?-Her frowns were vain,
For hearts like ours she could not chill;
Have friends proved false ?-Their love might wane,
But ours grew fonder, firmer still!
Twin barks on this world's changing wave,

Steadfast in calms, in tempests tried,

In concert still our fate we'll brave,
Together cleave life's fitful tide;

Nor mourn, whatever blasts may blow,
Youth's first wild dreams-ten years ago!

VI.

Have we not knelt beside his bed,

And watched our first-born blossom die; Hoped, till the shade of hope had fled, Then wept till feeling's fount was dry! Was it not sweet in that sad hour

To think, 'mid mutual tears and sighs, Our bud had left its earthly bower,

And burst to bloom in Paradise :

What, to the thought that soothed that woe,
Were heartless joys-ten years ago!

VII.

Yes, it is sweet, when Heaven is bright,
To share its sunny beams with thee!
But even more sweet, 'mid clouds and blight,
To have thee near to weep with me:
Then dry those tears, though somewhat changed
From what we were in earlier youth,-
Time, that hath hopes and friends estranged,
Hath left us love in all its truth;—
Sweet feelings we would not forego,
For life's best joys—ten years ago!

MY OWN FIRESIDE.

"It is a mystic circle that surrounds
Comforts and virtues never known beyond
Its hallowed limit."

SOUTHEY.

LET others seek for empty joys,
At ball or concert, rout or play;
Whilst, far from Fashion's idle noise,
Her gilded domes and trappings gay,

I while the wintry eve away,

"Twixt book and lute the hours divide; And marvel how I e'er could stray From thee-my own fireside!

My own fireside! Those simple words

Can bid the sweetest dreams arise;