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9. 
And thou stony grot, in thy arch may’st preserve 
Two lingering drops of the night fallen dew ; 
And just let them fall at her feet and they'll serve 
As tears of my sorrow intrusted to you. 
Io, 
Or, lest they unheeded should fall at her feet, 
Let them fall on her bosom of snow ; and I swear 
The next time I visit thy moss cover’d seat, 
I’ll pay thee each drop with a genuine tear. 
Il. 
So may’st thou, green willow, for ages thus toss 
Thy branches so lank o’er the slow winding stream ; 
And thou, stony grotto, retain all thy moss, 
While yet there’s a poet to make thee his theme. 
12. 
Nay, more—may my Delia still give you her charms 
Each ev’ning, and sometimes the whole ev’ning long ; 
Then, grotto, be proud to support her white arms, 
Then, willow wave all thy green tops to her song. 
Moore remarks* that these verses were “supposed” to have 
been written in a grotto in Spring Gardens “then a fashionable 
_ place of resort.” Here be it noted it is again only “supposed,” 
and yet as usual what was only a supposition soon becomes 
copied and quoted as a fact. Thus the last biography of 
_ Sheridant quoting Moore as the only authority but dropping the 
supposition, says boldly as a fact,—a grotto in Spring Gardens 
_ was the scene &c. Moore marked his words plainly as a sup- 
_ position and plain words should be so read, without attempted 
improvement or elaboration. The only fact in Moore’s statement 
is that Spring Gardens at the time was a place of fashionable 
_ resort. In the comedy by Mrs. Thomas Sheridan entitled,— 
_ A Journey to Bath,—lord Stewkley, one of the characters, 
_ makes a breakfast in Spring Gardens and invites such a mixed 
company that—lady Bell says to him—Why my lord Stewkly you 
* ** Life of Sheridan,” p. 52. t+ Rae, p 187. 
