XIV.

THE AFFECTIONATE HEART.

BY JOSEPH COTTLE.

1

THO' the great man, his treasures possessing, Pomp and splendour for ever attend,

I prize not the shadowy blessing,

I ask-the affectionate friend.

2

Tho' foibles may sometimes o'ertake him,
His footstep from wisdom depart;
Yet my spirit shall never forsake him,
If he own the affectionate heart.

3

Affection! thou soother of care,

Without thee, unfriended we rove; Thou canst make e'en the desert look fair, And thy voice is the voice of the dove.

4

'Mid the anguish that preys on the breast, And the storms of mortality's state;

What shall lull the afflicted to rest,

But the joys that on sympathy wait?

5

What is Fame, bidding Envy defiance ?
The idol and bane of mankind;

What is Wit, what is Learning, or Science,
To the heart that is steadfast and kind?

6

E'en Genius may weary the sight

By too fierce and too constant a blaze ; But affection, mild planet of night! Grows lovelier the longer we gaze.

7

It shall thrive when the flattering forms
That encircle creation decay;

It shall live 'mid the wide-wasting storms
That bear all undistinguish'd away.

8

When Time, at the end of his race,

Shall expire with expiring mankind,

It shall stand on its permanent base,

It shall last till the wreck of the mind.

N

XV.

SMILES AND TEARS,

BY MR. DIBDIN.

1

THE weather, the land, and all those that dwell in it,

Like our minds that are chequer'd by hopes and by fears,

In rapid succession change every minute,
A constant rotation of smiles and of tears.

But the smiles and the tears the same motive revealing,

Tho' opposite, similar passions excite,

One the offspring of bounty, the other of feeling, Take different tacks to the road of delight,

2

When pants the parch'd earth, as its wounds require healing,

For the shower, to put forward fresh blossoms and leaves;

Nature, parent to all, with affectionate feeling,

Benignly sheds tears as its wants she relieves.

And when kindly refresh'd, as new beauties are springing,

And the sun, in rich smiles, glads the gratified sight;

Thankful birds on the glistening verdure are singing,

And the smiles and the tears expand equal

delight.

3

And so, 'twixt friend and friend, when a heartwounding sorrow

Resolution o'ercomes, and sinks deep in the

mind;

From the tears of a friend flattering comfort we borrow,

For the motive's sincere, and the action is

kind:

Nor when friendship's warm efforts o'ercome the vexation,

Do our smiles, howe'er grateful, more pleasure excite,

For they both have their source in the same sweet sensation,

And

convey

to the mind the same generous

delight.

XVI.

THE SMILE OF BENEVOLENCE.

BY MR. DIBDIN.

1

INSPIR'D by so grateful a duty,

In terms strongest art can devise, Bards have written those raptures on beauty, That Lovers have wafted on sighs:

I, to fill the sweet theme more completely, Sing the beauty of goodness the while, For every face is dress'd sweetly,

Where beams a benevolent smile.

2

While the heart some beneficent action
Contemplates, with joy the eyes speak,
On the lip quivers mute satisfaction,
And a glow of delight paints the cheek.
Bliss pervades ev'ry feature completely,
Adding beauty to beauty the while,
And the loveliest face looks more sweetly,
Where beams a benevolent smile.