566 
what reason is there, why a man should 
not rest satisfied, that it is not with sight 
alone, but with the guidance and provi- 
dence of God, that his eyes can avail 
him. Surely, while he regards, while he 
considers me, as he certainly does, and 
_leads me, as it were, by the hand asa 
Original Poetry. 
ORIGINAL POETRY. 
[Jan. 1, 
guide through the whole of my hfe, Ican- 
not but willingly surrender my sight to 
him, who has so ordained it. ¥ bid you 
adieu, my dear Philaras, with as con- 
stant and fixed affection as if ] had the 
sight of Lynceus.” : 
—<=Se 
[ The following yeu p’rsprit, by Mr Cow- 
PeR, Author of the Task, descriptive of 
one of his rural Excwrsions, 1s not in his 
puclished Poems, or in his posthumous 
Works, and has never appeared in print. | 
THE DISTRESSED TRAVELLERS, OR LA*< 
BOUR IN VAIN. 
By WILLIAM COWPER. 
(An excellent New Song toa Tune never sung 
before.) 
T SING of a journey to Clifton* 
We would have performed, if we could ; 
Without cart or barrow, to lift on 
Poor Mary,+ and me, thro’ the mud. 
Sie, Sla, Slud, 
Stuck in the mud 3 
O itis pretty to wade thro’ a flocd! 
So away we went slipping, and sliding, 
Hop, hop, a /a mode de deux frogs: 
*Tis near as good walking as riding, 
When ladiesvare dressed in their clogs. 
Wheels no doubt, 
Go briskly about, 
Eut they clatter, and rattle, and make 
such a rout. 
DIALOGUE. 
SHE. 
6¢ Well! now, I protest it is charming ; 
How finely the weather improves ! 
That cloud, tho’ is rather alarming, 
How slowly and stately it moves” 
HE. 
6¢Pshaw! never mind, 
°Tis not in the wind, 
We are travelling south, and shall leave’ 
it behind.”? 
SHE 
€*¢ Tam glad we are come for an airing, 
For folks may be pounded, and penn’d, 
Until they grow rusty, not caring 
Tostir half a mile to an end,” 
HE. 
«¢ The longer we stay, ~ 
The longer we may; _ 
Yes a folly to think about weather or 
way.” 
a village near Olney, 
$ Mrs. Unwin. ; 
SHE. 
¢* But now I begin to be frighted, 
If I fall, what a way [ should roll! 
Tam glad that the bridge was indicted : 
Stay! stop! Iam sunk in a hole !* 
HE, 
‘¢ Nay, never care, 
°Tis a common affair 5 
Youll not be the last, that will set 4 
foot there.” : 
SHE. 
s¢ Let me breathe now a little, and ponder” 
On what it were better to do; 
That terrible lane, I see yonder, 
I think we shall never get thro’.* 
: HE. 
* So think I :—~ 
But by the bye, 
We never shall know, if we never should 
try.?’ 
SHE. 
s¢ But, should we get there, how shall we get 
home 5 ve 
What a terrible deal of bad road we have 
ast ! 
Slipping, and sliding; and if we should 
come 
To a difficult stile, 1 am ruined at last ! 
Oh this lane 
Now it is plain, 
That struggling, and striving, is labour in 
vain.” 
HE. 
S€ Stick fast there, while I go and look ;” 
SHE. 
*¢ Don’t go away, for fear I should fall :” 
HE. 
‘¢ T have examin’d it every nook, 
And what you have here, is a sample of all. 
Come wheel rouné ; 
The dirt we have found 
Would be an estate, at a farthing a 
pound.” de 
Now sister Arne*, the guitar you must take, 
Set it, and sing it, and make it asong: 
T have varied the verse, for variety’s sake, 
And cut it off short--because it was long: 
?Tis hobbling, and lame, 
: Which critics won’t blame, 
For*the sense, and the sound, they sayy — 
should be the same. 
* The late Lady Austin. 
‘: IMITATION 
