xii PREFACE. 



Oh, if the grave's capacious womb 

 Has long closed o'er him, still to me 



'Twere sweet to know immortal bloom 

 Succeeded dull mortality. 



A-gain, let us turn our eyes to the neighbouring 

 nursery-grounds. Who is yon son of toil, working 

 spade in hand at his laborious vocation, but the author 

 (Mr. C. J. Clarke) of published poems, from which 

 the following extract is culled ? 



POETEY AND LOVE. 



"Tis poetry and love alone 



Can cheer and sweeten life, 

 Amidst its wearying routine 



Of care, and toil, and strife. 



For poetry refines the sense, 



And elevates the soul ; 

 While love's endearing influence 



Sheds fragrance o'er the whole. 



These twin -born sisters from above 



Our purest pleasures give ; 

 Deprived of poetry and love, 



I would not wish to live. 



They shed a beam in darkest night, 



A pure and heavenly ray 

 Of sunshine bursting into light, 



To guide us on our way. 



Then, ye who grovel here below, 



And raise no thought above, 

 Despise not what ye cannot know, 



Sweet poetry and love. 



