To her a lover's legacy is paid,

The darling wealth of the devoted maid;

From this her best and favourite books she buys,
From this are doled the favourite charities;
And when a tale or face affects her heart,
This is the fund that must relief impart.

Such have the ten last years of Ellen been! Her very last that sunken eye has seen! That half-angelic being still must fade Till all the angel in the mind be made;— And though she prays not with the dying now, She teaches them to die, and shows them how.

"Such is my tale, dear Richard, but that told "I must all comments on the text withhold; "What is the sin of grief I cannot tell, "Nor of the sinners who have loved too well; "But to the cause of mercy I incline, "Or, O my Brother, what a fate is mine!"

HENRY AND EMMA

OR

THE NATURAL DEATH OF LOVE

LOVE has slow death and sudden: wretches prove "That fate severe--the sudden death of love; "Others there are with whom love dies away "In gradual waste and unperceived decay; "Such is that death of love that nature finds "Most fitted for the use of common minds, "The natural death; but doubtless there are some "Who struggle hard when they perceive it come; "Loth to be loved no longer, loth to prove "To the once dear that they no longer love: "And some with not successless arts will strive "To keep the weak'ning, fluttering flame alive. "But see my verse; in this I try to paint "The passion failing, fading to complaint, "The gathering grief for joys remember'd yet, "The vain remonstrance, and the weak regret : "First speaks the wife in sorrow, she is grieved "T' admit the truth, and would be still deceived."

HENRY AND EMMA

E. Well, my good sir, I shall contend no more; But, O the vows you made, the oaths you swore—

H. To love you always :-I confess it true; And do I not? If not, what can I do? Moreover, think what you yourself profess'd, And then the subject may for ever rest.

E. Yes, sir, obedience I profess'd; I know My debt, and wish to pay you all I owe, Pay without murmur; but that vow was made To you who said it never should be paid ;— Now truly tell me why you took such care To make me err? I ask'd you not to swear, But rather hoped you would my mind direct, And say, when married, what you would expect.

You may remember—it is not so long
Since you affirm'd that I could not be wrong;
I told you then-you recollect, I told
The very truth-that humour would not hold;
Not that I thought, or ever could suppose,
The mighty raptures were so soon to close.

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Do you remember how you

used to hang

Upon my looks? your transports when I sang?
I play'd-you melted into tears; I moved-
Voice, words, and motion, how you all approved;
A time when Emma reign'd, a time when Henry
loved :

You recollect?

H.

Yes, surely; and then why
The needless truths? do I the facts deny?
For this remonstrance I can see no need,
Or this impatience-if you do, proceed.

E. O! that is now so cool, and with a smile
That sharpens insult I detest the style;
And, now I talk of styles, with what delight
You read my lines-I then, it seems, could write :
In short, when I was present, you could see,
But one dear object, and you lived for me;
And now, sir, what your pleasure? Let me dress,
Sing, speak, or write, and you your sense express
Of my poor taste-my words are not correct;
In all I do is failing or defect—

And what can such dissatisfaction prove?
I tell you, Henry, you have ceased to love.

H. I own it not; but if a truth it be, It is the fault of nature, not of me. Remember you, my love, the fairy tale,

Where the young pairs were spellbound in the vale ? When all around them gay or glorious seem'd,

And of bright views and ceaseless joys they dream'd

Till, melting into truth, the vision fled,

And there came miry roads and thorny ways instead?

Such was our fate, my charmer! we were found A wandering pair, by roguish Cupid bound; There was that purple light of love, that bloom, That ardent passions in their growth assume.

Nor they alone were charming; by that light All loved of thee grew lovely in my sight.

You went the church-way walk, you reach'd the farm,

And gave the grass and babbling springs a charm;
Crop, whom you rode,-sad rider though you be,—
Thenceforth was more than Pegasus to me:
Have I not woo'd your snarling cur to bend
To me the paw and greeting of a friend?
And all his surly ugliness forgave,

Because, like me, he was my Emma's slave?

Think you, thus charm'd, I would the spell revoke ? Alas! my love, we married, and it broke!

E. O sir, this boyish tale is mighty well,

But 'twas your falsehood that destroy'd the spell :
Speak not of nature, 'tis an evil mind

That makes you to accustom❜d beauties blind;
You seek the faults yourself, and then complain you

find.

H. I sought them not; but, madam, 'tis in vain The course of love and nature to restrain :