University of Virginia Library

THE LOVER AND THE ECHO.

LOVER.
Why am I doomed the pangs to prove
Of absence, from my Anna far?
What bars me from those lips of love,
Whose color rivals cinnabar?

ECHO.
A rival's sin, a bar.

LOVER.
Is she still faithful to the vow
She made at parting, breathed in sighs?
Loves she with equal fervor now?
Would I her heart could analyze!

ECHO.
Anna lies.

LOVER.
I 'd breathe my thoughts in amorous lay,
But, ah! I know not what to write;
For how can words those charms portray
Which might inflame an anchorite?

ECHO.
In flame and anger write.

LOVER.
I 've praised her oft, in tuneful feet,
Iambic, dactyl, and the rest,
But she, with smile and accent sweet,
Approved the lively anapest.

ECHO.
You proved the lively Ann a pest.

LOVER.
Oh, will she soon be joined to me,
Whom she has fixed affections eye on,
And I, like an engrafted tree,
Nourish the young and tender scion?

ECHO.
Young and tender, sigh on.

LOVER.
Oh, did she watch the rising moon,
Like me, with love and hope elated,
While listening to the cricket's tune,
Last Sunday evening, animated?

ECHO.
Last Sunday evening Anna mated.

LOVER.
I 've bought a ring with sparkling gem,
Emblem of love that ne'er can falter,
To grace her slender finger, when
Her vows are plighted by the altar.

ECHO.
Her vows are plighted—buy the halter!