INVOCATION TO MISERY.

COME, be happy!-sit by me,

Shadow-vested Misery :

Coy, unwilling, silent bride,

Mourning in thy robe of pride,

Desolation-deified!

Come, be happy!—sit near me :
Sad as I may seem to thee,
I am happier far than thou,
Lady, whose imperial brow
Is endiademed with woe.

Misery! we have known each other,

Like a sister and a brother

Living in the same lone home,

Many years we must live some

Years and ages yet to come.

'Tis an evil lot, and yet

Let us make the most of it;

If love lives when pleasure dies,

We will love, till in our eyes

This heart's Hell seem Paradise.

Come, be happy!-lie thee down
On the fresh grass newly mown,
Where the Grasshopper doth sing
Merrily-one joyous thing

In a world of sorrowing!

There our tent shall be the willow,

And thine arm shall be my pillow;

Sounds and odours sorrowful

Because they once were sweet, shall lull

Us to slumber, deep and dull.

Ha! thy frozen pulses flutter
With a love thou darest not utter.

Thou art murmuring, thou art weeping, Whilst my burning bosom 's leaping.

Kiss me ;-oh! thy lips are cold:
Round my neck thine arms enfold-
They are soft, but chill and dead;

And thy tears upon my head

Burn like points of frozen lead.

Clasp me till our hearts be grown

Like two lovers into one;

Till this dreadful transport may

Like a vapour fade away,
In the sleep that lasts alway.

We may dream, in that long sleep, That we are not those who weep; E'en as Pleasure dreams of thee,

Life-deserting Misery,

Thou mayst dream of her with me.