1827.] [ 149 ] 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 



Oh ! what is pleasure, in whose chase 

 Life's one brief day is made a race 



Of vanity and lightness ? 

 A star, to gaze on whose bright crown, 

 We wait until the sun goes down, 

 And find, when it has o'er us shone, 



No warmth in all its brightness. 



And what is Friendship ? That false flow'r 

 Which spreads its leaves at daylight's hour, 



And closes them at eve ; 

 Opening its petals to the light, 

 Sweet-breathing while the sun shines bright, 

 But shut to those who, 'midst the night 



Of doubt and darkness, grieve. 



And what is Fame ? the smile that slays, 

 The cup in which sweet poison plays ; 



At best, the flowery wreath, 

 That's twined around the victim's head, 

 When, 'midst sweet fiow'rs around it spread, 

 And harps' and timbrels' sounds, 'tis led 



Melodiously, to death. 



And what are Hopes ? Gay butterflies 

 That en the breath of fancy rise, 



Where'er the sun -beam lures them; 

 For ever, ever, on the wing, 

 Mocking our faint steps following, 

 And if at last caught, perishing 



In the grasp that secures them. 



And our Affections, what are they ? 

 Oh ! blossoms smiling on the spray, 



All beauty, and all sweetness ; 

 But which the canker may lay bare, 

 Or rude hands from the branches tear, 

 Or blighting winds leave withering there, 



Sad types of mortal fleetness. 



And what is Life itself? A sail 

 With sometimes an auspicious gale, 



And some bright sunbeams round it, 

 But oft'ner amidst tempests cast, 

 The low'ring sky, the howling blast, 

 And 'whelm'd beneath the wave at last, 

 Where never plummet sounded. 



H. N. 



