Oh, leave not forlorn and forever forsaken, TO A MOSQUITO. FAIR insect! that, with threadlike legs spread out, In pitiless ears full many a plaintive thing, Unwillingly, I own, and, what is worse, Full angrily men hearken to thy plaint; Thou gettest many a brush, and many a curse, For saying thou art gaunt, and starved, and faint; Even the old beggar, while he asks for food, Would kill thee, hapless stranger, if he could. I call thee stranger, for the town, I ween, Has not the honor of so proud a birth,— Thou com'st from Jersey meadows, fresh and green, Beneath the rushes was thy cradle swung, And when at length thy gauzy wings grew strong, Abroad to gentle airs their folds were flung, Rose in the sky and bore thee soft along; The south wind breathed to waft thee on thy way, Calm rose afar the city spires, and thence Came the deep murmur of its throng of men, And as its grateful odors met thy sense, They seemed the perfumes of thy native fen. Fair lay its crowded streets, and at the sight Thy tiny song grew shriller with delight. At length thy pinions fluttered in Broadway— Ah, there were fairy steps, and white necks kissed By wanton airs, and eyes whose killing ray Shone through the snowy veils like stars through mist; And fresh as morn, on many a cheek and chin, Bloomed the bright blood through the transparent skin. Sure these were sights to touch an anchorite! As if it brought the memory of pain: Thou art a wayward being—well-come near, What sayst thou-slanderer!-rouge makes thee sick? And China bloom at best is sorry food? And Rowland's Kalydor, if laid on thick, Poisons the thirsty wretch that bores for blood? That bloom was made to look at, not to touch; Thou shouldst have gazed at distance and admired, Murmured thy adoration, and retired. Thou'rt welcome to the town; but why come here And thin will be the banquet drawn from me. Try some plump alderman, and suck the blood Fix thy light pump and press thy freckled feet. There corks are drawn, and the red vintage flows Shall tempt thee, as thou flittest round the brow. LINES ON REVISITING THE COUNTRY. I STAND upon my native hills again, Broad, round, and green, that in the summer sky With garniture of waving grass and grain, Orchards, and beechen forests, basking lie, While deep the sunless glens are scooped between, Where brawl o'er shallow beds the streams unseen. * A lisping voice and glancing eyes are near, For I have taught her, with delighted eye, And clouds along its blue abysses rolled, Here, have I 'scaped the city's stifling heat, And gales, that sweep the forest borders, bear Ay, flame thy fiercest, sun! thou canst not wake, The mountain wind! most spiritual thing of all He seems the breath of a celestial clime! THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. THE melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang and stood In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood? The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago, men, And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and glen. And now, when comes the calm mild day, as still such days will come, To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home; still, And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill, |