SULPHUR PARRAKEET. A33 



The boding Raven mocks the shafts of fate ; 

 And scarce nine ages fill his endless date. 

 Tlie worthless Jackdaw hovers o'er the plain, 

 And calls with noisy throat th' impending rain. 

 But thou, sweet copier of the human strain, 

 Art gone ; and India sent her bird in vain ! 

 Fate seizes first the worthiest and the best; 

 And, with perverse forbearance, spares the rest. 

 The base Thersites Peleus* son surviv'd ; 

 And Hector perish'd, while his brethren livM. 

 Why should I tell thy gentle mistress* prayers, 

 Giv'n to the winds, tho' urg'd with falling tears? 

 Sev'n days had now their gloomy tenor run, 

 And Fate, her distaff bare, thy thread had spun. 

 E'en then ere yet the power of f-peech had pass'd. 

 Farewell, belov'd Corinna ! was thy last. 

 Deep^in Elysian vales, in waving rows 

 Spread the green shades where pious birds repose : 

 And whence debarred, no place of rest can claim 

 Or fowl of cast obscene, or evil fame. 

 But peaceful Swans their silver wings display. 

 And gently ghde along their watery way. 

 There too, 'tis said, the living Phoenix blooms. 

 And waves in purple skies his golden plumes. 

 There Juno's birds, with harmless pride, display 

 The varying gems that o'er their plumage play. 

 While, deep in myrtle shades, the cooing Doves 

 Breathe their soft murmurs, and indulge their loves. 

 There too, receiv'd amid the sacred groves, 

 Corinna's pride, the emerald stranger roves ; 

 While, gathering round him, the selected quire 

 Catch the new accents, and their notes admire. 

 His bones beneath their little tomb repose: 

 His character this short inscription shows. 

 Here lies the glory of the feather'd race ; 

 The first in langoage as the first in grace. 



