POETRY. 



Nursed in the lap of luxury and love, 



Affection's zeal and constancy ye prove ; 



Heedless alike of peril or of woe, 



Nor grief nor dread perplexity ye know, 



But look so destitute of pain or care 



We might have deemed ye habitants of air, 



That to this world on kindly wing had flown, 



But ne'er one drop of bitterness had known. 



And must these features change as seasons glide ? 



Why not as now each lineament abide ? 



Must pale solicitude e'er mark the brow ? 



Or hope and fear those blushing cheeks avow ! 



Yes, ye must taste of life, nor trembling shrink. 



For there is honey mingled as ye drink. 



Though perfect happiness this world knows noU 



Sweet buds and blossomings adorn each lot; 



The thorn may threaten, yet there is the rose, 



And tints of Paradise its leaves disclose : 



Yes, there are joys, even exquisite, that bloom, 



And shed, unmerited, their rich perfume, 



Jn such variety and beauty given 



As prove the care and sympathy of Heaven. 



Be ye participants and though the sigh 



May burst at times, some visitant be nigh 



Some angel messenger to lull each care, 



And scenes of bright futurity declare ; 



Yet howsoe'er ye change these forms mature 



Still must these traces infantine endure ; 



Fixed by the master hand of him whose name 



Lives in the breathing monuments of Fame. 



Ah in some distant day when years have past 



And springs and summers many a bounty cast 



How will ye gaze with pleasure on this scene,. 



More valued from long interval between ; 



And ye will pause and think of what ye were 



And bless parental tenderness and care ; 



And ye will patronize the art sublime, 



That thus recalls the hasty wing of Time, 



And brings to light from Memory's loved train 



The sports and smiles of infancy again. 



M. G. 



