From this we suppose, (as indeed well we may,)
That should Saints after death, with their spouses put up more,
And wives, as in life, aim at absolute sway,
All Heaven would ring with the conjugal uproar.
8.
Distraction and discord would follow in course,
Nor MATTHEW, nor MARK, nor St. PAUL, can deny it,
The only expedient is general divorce,
To prevent universal disturbance and riot.
9.
But though husband and wife, shall at length be disjoin'd
Yet woman and man ne'er were meant to dissever,
Our chains once dissolv'd, and our hearts unconfin'd,
We'll love without bonds, but we'll love you forever.
10.
Though souls are denied you by fools and by rakes,
Should you own it yourselves, I would even then doubt you,
Your nature so much of _celestial_ partakes,
The Garden of Eden would wither without you.
SOUTHWELL, _October_ 9, 1806.
* * * * *
THE TEAR.
1.
When Friendship or Love,
Our sympathies move,
When Truth in a glance should appear,
The lips may beguile,
With a dimple or smile,
But the test of affection's a _tear_.
2.
Too oft is a smile,
But the hypocrite's wile,
To mask detestation, or fear,
Give me the soft sigh,
Whilst the soul telling eye
Is dimm'd, for a time, with a _tear_.
3.
Mild charity's glow,
To us mortals below,
Shows the soul from barbarity clear,
Compassion will melt,
Where this virtue is felt,
And its dew is diffused in a _tear_.
4.
The man doom'd to sail,
With the blast of the gale,
Through billows Atlantic to steer,
As he bends o'er the wave,
Which may soon be his grave,
The green sparkles bright with a _tear_.
5.
The soldier braves death,
For a fanciful wreath,
In Glory's romantic career;
But he raises the foe,
When in battle laid low,
And bathes every wound with a _tear_.
6.
When with high bounding pride,
He returns to his bride,
Renouncing the gore crimson'd spear;
All his toils are repaid,
When embracing the maid,
From her eyelid he kisses the tear.
7.
Sweet scene of my youth,
Seat of Friendship and Truth,
Where Love chac'd each fast-fleeting year,
Loth to leave thee I mourn'd,
For a last look I turn'd,
But thy spire was scarce seen through a _tear_.
8.
Though my vows I can pour,
To my Mary no more,
My Mary to love once so _dear_,
In the shade of her bower,
I remember the hour,
She rewarded those vows with a _tear_.
9.
By another possest,
May she live ever blest,
Her name still my heart must revere,
With a sigh I resign,
What I once thought was mine,
And forgive her deceit with a _tear_.
10.
Ye friends of my heart,
Ere from you I depart,
This hope to my breast is most near,
If again we shall meet,
In this rural retreat,
May we _meet_, as we _part_, with a _tear_.
11.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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