1803.] 
Such fcenes may pleafe the happy and the 
Bay 
But can their charms illume my cloudy day ? 
Ah! no; nor groves, nor laughing flow’rs 
fuffice, a 
Nor founds melodious, nor refplendent fkies. 
Each obje& {peaks of blifs that would not 
laft; 
Fach feems the faithful mirror of the patt. 
Let me then fly the haunts where fun-beams 
play, "4 
Where mufic’s notes along the vale decay 5 
‘To tracklefs wilds, far difttant, let me hatte, 
And roam—a Wand’rer on the world’s wide 
waite,” 
i 
THE MADAGASCAR MOTHER. By FANNY 
HOLCROFT. 
The following is nota European Fiction ; it 
is a real Madagafcar Song, brought from 
that Ifland by the Chevalier de Porni; a 
profe Tranflacion of which may be feen in 
Vol. I. P. 551. of Varieties of Literature, 
Wwuy fhrink’ft thou, weak girl? Why 
this coward defpair ? 
Thy tears and thy ftruggles are vain: 
Oppcfe me no more 3 of my curfes beware! 
Thy terrors and grief I difdain, 
‘The mother was dragging her daughter away 
Tothe white man, alas! to be dold. 
8¢ Oh fpare me ! (the cried) fure thou would’ ft 
not betray 
The child of thy bofom for gold ? 
The pledge of thy love ; I firft taught thee 
to know 
A mother’s affe€tion and fears. 
What crime has deferv’d thou fhouw’W’ft only 
beftow * 
Difhornour and bondage and tears ? 
I tenderly foothe every forrow and care ; 
To eafe thee, unwearied [ toil; 
The fish of the ftream by my wiles I enfnare; 
The meads of their flowers defpoil. 
From the wintry blaft I have fhelter’d thy 
head ; 
Oft borne thee with zeal tothe fhade ; 
Thy flumbers have watcli’d on the foft leafy 
bed; 
The mofqueto oft chas’d from the glade. 
Who'll cherifh thy age, when from thee I 
am torne ? sf 
Gold ne’er buys affection like mine! 
Thou’it bow to the earth, while defpairing I 
mourn, 
Not nay forrows or hardfhips, but thine. 
Then fell me not ; fave me from anguifh and 
fhame ! 
No child thou haft, mother, but me!’ 
©}! do not too rafhly abjure the dear claim; 
My bofom moft trembles for thee.” 
Original Poetry. 
O43 
{n vain fhe implor’d—wretched maid! fhe 
was fold ; 
To the fhip, chain’d and frantic convey’d 5 
Her parent and country ne’er more to be~ 
hold, ‘ 
By a mercilefs mother betrayd. 
aT 
A MOON-LIGHT WALK. 
ALLURED by Cynthia’s filver ray, 
With wandering fteps alone I ftray, 
Where folemn filence unmolefted reigns ; 
Afar from Riot’s vapourith light, ° 
T’ enjoy the facred calm of night, 
And, liftening, catch her fweetly plaintive 
firains. 
From far the foft refponfive fong, 
Borne on the zephyr, floats along; - 
Nor aught is heard to interrupt the lay, 
Save where the wearied peafant fleepsy, 
Secure, while Tray the portal keeps, 
Whofe hollow notes extend their lengthen’d 
way 5 
- Or where the folemn bird of night, 
' Exulting in the azure light, 
Bids echo’s voice repeat the drowfy theme; 
Or crickets chirp beneath the thorn, 
Whofe twigs the glittering gems adorn, 
_ That fport refle€ted in the limpid ftream. 
Pafs’d is the fervid heat of day.— 
Now bluftering ftorms are far away 5 
Beneath the covert of the bramble’s fhade 
The glow-worm’s fhining lamp is feén, 
Ting’d faintly with a filver green, 
Spreading its radiance in the moon-light 
glade. 
Sweet is this lonely midnight fcene, 
When all is tranquil and ferene, 
And weary nature finks in calm repofe 3 
Yet, many a downy pillow bears 
A head perplex’d with torturing cares, 
That vainly feeks a refpite from its woes. 
Contentment flies the gilded dome, 
And chufes for her envied home 
The humble roof where peaceful Virtue 
dwells; 
She there difplays her choiceft ftores, 
And in the wounded bofom pours 
‘Her foothing balm, and anxious fear difpels. 
Grant me, O gentle nymph! thofe {miles 
That life’s uncertain path beguiles, 
And round my cot diffufe thy cheering ray ; 
Let peace of mind, and joy ferene, 
Calm as this filent lovely fcene, 
Soothe every grief, and wipe each tear away! 
TERPE. 
eR eo 
STANZAS wrilten at NIGHT. 
VE’s lucid far now bathes her filver beam 
In the dark furges of the weftern main; 
The veil of night infolds the fhadowy fceney 
And rifing vapours brood along the plain. 
Tia At 
. 
