The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and stanch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.
“Now, don’t...
Some time there ben a lyttel boy
That wolde not renne and play,
And helpless like that little tyke
Ben allwais in the way.
“Goe, make you merrie with the rest,”
His weary moder cried;
But with a frown he catcht her gown
And hong untill her side.
That boy did love his moder well,
Which spake him faire, I ween;...
Us two wuz boys when we fell out,—
Nigh to the age uv my youngest now;
Don’t rec’lect what ’t wuz about,
Some small deeff’rence, I ’ll allow.
Lived next neighbors twenty years,
A-hatin’ each other, me ’nd Jim,—
He havin’ his opinyin uv me,
’Nd I havin’ my opinyin uv him.
Grew up together ’nd would n’t speak,
...
Keep me, I pray, in wisdom’s way,
That I may truths eternal seek;
I need protecting care to-day,—
My purse is light, my flesh is weak.
So banish from my erring heart
All baleful appetites and hints
Of Satan’s fascinating art,
Of first editions, and of prints.
Direct me in some godly walk
Which leads away from...
Dear wife, last midnight, whilst I read
The tomes you so despise,
A spectre rose beside the bed,
And spake in this true wise:
“From Canaan’s beatific coast
I ’ve come to visit thee,
For I am Frognall Dibdin’s ghost,”
Says Dibdin’s ghost to me.
I bade him welcome, and we twain
Discussed with buoyant hearts...
To the FOUNTAIN OF BANDUSIA
O FOUNTAIN of Bandusia!
Whence crystal waters flow,
With garlands gay and wine I ’ll pay
The sacrifice I owe;
A sportive kid with budding horns
I have, whose crimson blood
Anon shall dye and sanctify
Thy cool and babbling flood.
O fountain of Bandusia!
The Dog-star’s hateful...
It is in Winter that we dream of Spring;
For all the barren bleakness and the cold,
The longing fancy sees the frozen mould
Decked with sweet blossoming.
Though all the birds be silent,—though
The fettered stream’s soft voice be still,
And on the leafless bough the snow
Be rested, marble-like and chill,—
Yet will the...
Sure and exact,—the master’s quiet touch,
Thus perfect, was his art;
Ambitious, generous, sad, and loving much,
Was his pain-haunted heart.
To him, the blissful burthen of her love
Did stern-browed Fortune give;
In hell, in heaven, beneath life and above,
Such souls as his must live.
Who wears Fame’s Tyrian garb, as...
Bold, amiable, ebon outlaw, grave and wise!
For many a good green year hast thou withstood—
By dangerous, planted field and haunted wood—
All the devices of thine enemies,
Gleaning thy grudgëd bread with watchful eyes
And self-relying soul. Come ill or good,
Blithe days thou see’st, thou feathered Robin Hood!
Thou mak’st a jest of farm-...
A darkened hut outlined against the sky,
A forward-looking slope,—some cedar trees,
Gaunt grasses stirred by the awaking breeze,
And nearer, where the grayer shadows lie,
Within a small paled square, one may descry
The beds wherein the Poor first taste of ease,
Where dewy rose-vines drop their spicy lees
Above the dreamless ashes,...
