 | Poetical Trifles |  |
124
To------
------Tua me infortunia lædent.
Ars. Poet.
Ars. Poet.
By fortune's tempests tost and shaken,
Thy dearest blisses overthrown;
So wreck'd, unpitied, and forsaken,
What mis'ry has thy bosom known!
Thy dearest blisses overthrown;
So wreck'd, unpitied, and forsaken,
What mis'ry has thy bosom known!
E'er yet young hope had scarce alighted,
To tell her flatteries to thee,
Thy ev'ry joy was torn and blighted,
Thy heart, how rent with agony!
To tell her flatteries to thee,
Thy ev'ry joy was torn and blighted,
Thy heart, how rent with agony!
'Twas thy sad lot without protection,
To lose a parent's shielding arms;
And roam the world in lone dejection,
When young to battle with its storms.
To lose a parent's shielding arms;
And roam the world in lone dejection,
When young to battle with its storms.
125
The world received thee with caresses,
And lured thy fond unguarded breast;
But left thee in thy deep distresses,
Without one sheltering spot to rest.
And lured thy fond unguarded breast;
But left thee in thy deep distresses,
Without one sheltering spot to rest.
Thy heart was one betrothed to feeling,
And purely formed to grateful sense;
Alas! 'twas one too soft for stealing
Love, that so marr'd its innocence.
And purely formed to grateful sense;
Alas! 'twas one too soft for stealing
Love, that so marr'd its innocence.
Methinks I see thee, pale, dejected,
In the dread hour of bitter woe;
A stricken victim, unprotected,
When ev'ry coward proved thy foe.
In the dread hour of bitter woe;
A stricken victim, unprotected,
When ev'ry coward proved thy foe.
No soul was nigh, to soothe thee weeping,
T'assuage thee with the balm of love;
In anguish were thy sorrows steeping,
While mockery to madness drove.
T'assuage thee with the balm of love;
In anguish were thy sorrows steeping,
While mockery to madness drove.
126
Oh! would that I had been beside thee,
E'en feeble as my efforts were;
I'd brav'd the spoiler that belied thee,
And laid his scheming bosom bare.
E'en feeble as my efforts were;
I'd brav'd the spoiler that belied thee,
And laid his scheming bosom bare.
And now, each paltry low-born creature
Will dare to scoff thy blighted name;
And make thy sorry woes a feature,
To taint thy hardly purchas'd fame;
Will dare to scoff thy blighted name;
And make thy sorry woes a feature,
To taint thy hardly purchas'd fame;
But when at last this world is drowning,
Amid the vengeful flaming blast;
Oh! may I see some angel crowning
Thee for heav'n and peace at last.
Amid the vengeful flaming blast;
Oh! may I see some angel crowning
Thee for heav'n and peace at last.
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