His mother's cabin-home, that lay These have one fountain, deep and clear The same whence gushed that child-like tear. MRS. HEMANS. This poem sadly brings to our recollection the beautiful lines in Cowper's Task, where that writer alludes to Omai, whom Captain Cook brought over to England from the Friendly Islands :-Omai wept bitter tears, when he returned to his original condition of life. The dream is past; and thou hast found again And homestall thatched with leaves, &c. &c. Task, B. 1. THE MOUNTAIN RILL. COME, track with me, this little vagrant rill, And playing with the stooping flowers at will; Now, moving scarce, with noiseless step and still. Anon it seems to weary of its rest, And hurries on, leaping with sparkling zest, Adown the ledges of the broken hill; Which throws light pleasure over true content, T. DOUBLEDAY. THE NIGHTINGALE. Now I steal along a woody lane, Yet have I heard -the human voice In serious sweetness flowing from the heart Of unaffected woman. I could hark Till the round world dissolv'd to the pure strain HURDIS. The good Isaac Walton, a writer of genuine feeling and classical simplicity, observes of this noted song-bird: 'He that, at midnight, when the very labourers sleep securely, should hear, as I have heard, the clear air, the sweet descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling, of her voice, might well be lifted above the earth, and say, Lord! what music hast thou provided for thy saints in heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on earth. *Conscia nocturnos luna moratur equos." TO THE CUCKOO. O, BLITHE new-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice; O, Cuckoo ! shall I call thee bird, Or but a wandering voice? While I am lying on the grass, That seems to fill the whole air's space, Though babbling only to the vale, Of sunshine and of flowers, Thrice welcome, darling of the spring! Ev'n yet thou art to me No bird: but an invisible thing, A voice, a mystery. The same, whom in my schoolboy days, Which made me look a thousand ways, To seek thee did I often rove Through woods and on the green; And I can listen to thee yet, That golden time again. WORDSWORTH. The Cuckoo, Cuculus Canorus, comes to us about the middle of April and almost invariably leaves us before the first of July. Every one hails with pleasure the arrival of this herald of spring. Its two notes have been observed to be always F. and D in the key of D. This and the cow-bunting, Emberiza Pecoris, of America, are the only known instances of birds laying their eggs in nests belonging to others. The cuckoo generally deposits its solitary egg in the nest of the hedge-sparrow, and what is very remarkable, the young cuckoo, as soon as hatched, turns out the eggs or birds, that may chance to remain there, and takes entire possession of the nest: it then becomes the sole object of the future care of its diminutive foster-parent. THE ROSE. THE rose is red, the rose is white, It tells full many a woeful tale, Of hearts made cold, of cheeks made pale, The rose is red, the rose is white, To crown the brows of loyalty! Strife took the white rose for its crest, To wed the tree of liberty; And while it blooms as freedom's guest, There let it ever be. CLARE. During the unhappy and fatal struggles between the houses of York and Lancaster, the adherents of the former chose as their mark of distinction, the White rose; while those of the latter, assumed the Red: these civil wars, which continued from the year 1450 to 1485, were known all over Europe by the name of the "Quarrel between the two roses." Upon the marriage of Henry VII., of the house of Lancaster, with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., of the house of York, the two roses were united in one, and then became the royal badge of England. The following epigram, notwithstanding that it savours of affectation, may not here be inaptly quoted; the lines were sent with a white rose from a lover, of the house of York, to his mistress, of the house of Lancaster: If this pale rose offend thy sight, Go place it in thy bosom fair, BIRDS FORBIDDEN BY THE LEVITICAL LAW. LEVIT. XI. 13-19. Or feath'red foules that fanne the bucksom aire, Not all alike weare made for foode to men, For, these thou shalt not eat doth God declare, Twice tenne their nombre, and their flesh unclene; Fyrst the great Eagle, byrde of feigned Jove, Which Thebanes worshippe and diviners love. Next Ossifrage and Ospray (both one kinde,) Of luxurie and rapine, emblems mete, That haunte the shores, the choicest preye to finde, And brast the bones, and scoope the marrow swete: The Vulture, void of delicace and feare, Who spareth not the pale dede man to teare: The tall-built Swann, faire type of pride confest; The Pelicane, whose sons are nurst with bloode. Forbidd to man! she stabbeth deep her breast, The Raven, ominous (as Gentiles holde,) The pelican, when she feeds her young, presses with her bill her full pouch against her breast, which is of a reddish hue, and thus disgorges its contents:this action has probably given rise to the popular fable here alluded to by our ancient poet. |