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ON A GOLDFINCH

STARVED TO DEATH IN HIS CAGE.

I.

TIME was when I was free as air,
The thistle's downy seed my fare,
My drink the morning dew;
I perch'd at will on ev'ry spray,
My form genteel, my plumage gay,
My strains for ever new.

II.

But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain,
And form genteel, were all in vain,

And of a transient datę;

For caught, and cag'd, and starv'd to death,

In dying sighs my little breath

Soon pass'd the wiry grate.

III.

Thanks, gentle swain, for all my woes,

And thanks for this effectual close

And cure of ev'ry ill!

More cruelty could none express;
And I, if you had shown me less,

Had been your pris'ner still.

THE

PINEAPPLE AND THE BEE.

THE pineapples, in triple row,
Were basking hot, and all in blow;
A bee of most discerning taste
Perceiv'd the fragrance as he pass'd;
On eager wing the spoiler came,
And search'd for crannies in the frame,
Urg'd his attempt on ev'ry side,

To ev'ry pane his trunk applied;
But still in vain, the frame was tight,
And only pervious to the light:
Thus having wasted half the day,
He trimm'd his flight another way.
Methinks, I said, in thee I find

The sin and madness of mankind.
To joys forbidden man aspires,
Consumes his soul with vain desires;
Folly the spring of his pursuit,
And disappointment all the fruit.
While Cynthio ogles, as she passes,

The nymph between two chariot glasses,

She is the pineapple, and he

The silly unsuccessful bee.

The maid, who views with pensive air
The showglass fraught with glitt'ring ware,
Sees watches, bracelets, rings, and lockets,
But sighs at thought of empty pockets;
Like thine, her appetite is keen,
But ah, the cruel glass between!

Our dear delights are often such,
Expos'd to view, but not to touch;
The sight our foolish heart inflames,
We long for pineapples in frames;
With hopeless wish one looks and lingers;
One breaks the glass, and cuts his fingers;
But they whom truth and wisdom lead,
Can gather honey from a weed.

HORACE, BOOK II. ODE X.

I.

RECEIVE, dear friend, the truths I teach,
So shalt thou live beyond the reach
Of adverse Fortune's pow'r;
Not always tempt the distant deep,
Nor always timorously creep
Along the treach'rous shore.

II.

He, that holds fast the golden mean,
And lives contentedly between

The little and the great,

Feels not the wants, that pinch the poor,

Nor plagues, that haunt the rich man's door,

Imbitt'ring all his state,

III.

The tallest pines feel most the pow'r
Of wintry blasts; the loftiest tow'r
Comes heaviest to the ground;

The bolts, that spare the mountain's side,
His cloudcapt eminence divide,

And spread the ruin round.

IV.

The well inform'd philosopher
Rejoices with a wholesome fear,
And hopes, in spite of pain;
If Winter bellow from the north,

Soon the sweet spring comes dancing forth,
And Nature laughs again..

V.

What if thine Heav'n be overcast,

The dark appearance will not last;

Expect a brighter sky.

The God, that strings the silver bow,
Awakes sometimes the muses too,
And lays his arrows by.

VI.

If hindrances obstruct thy way,
Thy magnanimity display,

And let thy strength be seen;
But O! if Fortune fill thy sail
With more than a propitious gale,
Take half thy canvass in.

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