But thou, unchanged from year to year, Shalt mock the fading race of men. A SONG OF PITCAIRN'S ISLAND. COME, take our boy, and we will go The winds shall bring us, as they blow, And we will kiss his young blue eyes, Songs that were made of yore: I'll sing, in his delighted ear, And thou, while stammering I repeat, Thy country's tongue shalt teach; Upon Tahité's beach, Thou cam'st to woo me to be thine, I knew thy meaning-thou didst praise Ah! well for me they won thy gaze,— I'm glad to see my infant wear Thy soft blue eyes and sunny hair, And when my sight is met By his white brow and blooming cheek, Come, talk of Europe's maids with me, Whose necks and checks, they tell, Outshine the beauty of the sea, White foam and crimson shell. I'll shape like theirs my simple dress, A sight to please thee well; Come, for the soft, low sunlight calls We lose the pleasant hours; 'Tis lovelier than these cottage walls- To Him who gave a home so fair, A lot so blest as ours The God who made for thee and me This sweet lone isle amid the sea. THE HUNTER'S SERENADE. THY bower is finished, fairest! Fit bower for hunter's bride Where old woods overshadow The green savannah's side. I've wandered long and wandered far, And never have I met, In all this lovely western land, A spot so lovely yet. But I shall think it fairer When thou art come to bless, With thy sweet eyes and silver voice, Its silent loveliness. For thee the wild grape glistens On sunny knoll and tree, And stoops the slim papaya With yellow fruit for thee. My rifle for thy feast shall bring I know, for thou hast told me, Bloom to the April skies, The earth has no more gorgeous sight To shew to human eyes. In meadows red with blossoms, All summer long, the bee Or, wouldst thou gaze at tokens Of ages long ago? Our old oaks stream with mosses, And sprout with mistletoe; And mighty vines, like serpents, climb The giant sycamore; And trunks, o'erthrown for centuries Cumber the forest floor; And in the great savannah The solitary mound, Built by the elder world, o'erlooks The loneliness around Come, thou hast not forgotten Thy pledge and promise quite, With many blushes murmured, Beneath the evening light. Come, the young violets crowd my door Thy earliest look to win, Upon the mulberry near, And the night-sparrow trills her song INSCRIPTION FOR THE ENTRANCE TO A WOOD. · STRANGER, if thou hast learnt a truth which needs No school of long experience, that the world Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade |