I AD ROSAM "Mitte sectari, Rosa quo locorum HAD a vacant dwelling- As naught can serve the telling, Then, Rose, you passed the window,- When, Rose, our glances met! You snared me, Rose, with ribbons, Your rose-mouth made me thrall, Brief-briefer far than Gibbon's, Was my "Decline and Fall.” I heard the summons spoken How blind we are! It never Occurred to me to seek If you had come for ever, The words your voice neglected, Seemed written in your eyes; The thought your heart protected, Your cheek told, missal-wise ;— I read the rubric plainly As any Expert could; In short, we dreamed,-insanely, As only lovers should. I broke the tall Enone, That then my chambers graced Because she seemed "too bony," To suit your purist taste; And you, without vexation, May certainly confess Some graceful approbation, Designed à mon adresse. You liked me then, carina,- And banishment, convivial,— You coming too, of course. Then, Rose, a word in jest meant You prized my smile, I know: Then, Rose,-But why pursue it? And gulp the physic down. The song should end with this :You left me,-left me lonely, Rosa mutabilis ! Left me, with Time for Mentor, My bitterness of mind,- No, Rose. Though you refuse me, Culture the pang prevents; "I am not made -excuse me "Of so slight elements;" I leave to common lovers In dreams of public good. The Roses of this nation- To maids that can't be matched, No man of sensibility Should linger unattached. So, without further fashion- A new card-"Tenant Wanted, OME, Laura, patience. Time and Spring Your absent Arthur back shall bring, Enriched with many an Indian thing Once more to woo you; Him neither wind nor wave can check, Would it were wave and wind alone! The indiscriminate cyclone, A man might parry; But only faith, or "triple brass," For him fond mothers, stout and fair Only to hold around his chair Insidious sessions; |