A FABLE.

A RAVEN, while with glossy breast
Her new-laid eggs she fondly press'd,
And on her wicker-work high mounted
He chickens prematurely counted,
(A fault philosophers might blame
If quite exempted from the same)
Enjoy'd at ease the genial day;
"Twas April as the bumpkins say,
The legislature call'd it May.

But suddenly a wind as high

As ever swept a winter sky

Shook the young leaves about her ears,

And fill'd her with a thousand fears,

Lest the rude blast should snap the bough,

And spread her golden hopes below.
But just at eve the blowing weather
And all her fears were hush'd together:

And now, quoth poor unthinking Ralph, 'Tis over, and the brood is safe;

(For Ravens, though, as birds of omen,

They teach both conj'rers and old women To tell us what is to befall,

Can't prophesy themselves at all.)

The morning came, when neighbour Hodge, Who long had mark'd her airy lodge,

And destin'd all the treasure there

A gift to his expecting fair,

Climb'd like a squirrel to his dray,

And bore the worthless prize away.

MORAL.

"Tis Providence alone secures,

In every change, both mine and your's:

Safety consists not in escape

From dangers of a frightful shape;
An earthquake may be bid to spare
The man that's strangled by a hair.

Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oft'nest in what least we dread,
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.

A COMPARISON.

THE lapse of time and rivers is the same;

Both speed their journey with a restless stream; The silent pace with which they steal away

No wealth can bribe, no pray'rs persuade to stay; Alike irrevocable both when past,

And a wide ocean swallows both at last.

Though each resemble each in ev'ry part,

A difference strikes at length the musing heart; Streams never flow in vain; where streams abound, How laughs the land with various plenty crown'd!

But time that should enrich the nobler mind,
Neglected, leaves a dreary waste behind.

ANOTHER.

ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY.

SWEET stream that winds through yonder glade,

Apt emblem of a virtuous maid

Silent and chaste she steals along,

Far from the world's gay busy throng,

With gentle, yet prevailing, force,
Intent upon her destin'd course;

Graceful and useful all she does,

Blessing and blest where'er she goes,
Pure-bosom'd as that wat'ry glass,

And heav'n reflected in her face.

VERSES

SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER SELKIRK,

DURING HIS SOLITARY ABODE IN THE

ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ.

I.

I AM monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea,

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

Oh, solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,

Than reign in this horrible place.

II.

I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,

Never hear the sweet music of speech;
I start at the sound of my own.