My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The child is father of the man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. ―――― Extract from POEMS OF THE APPREHENSION. My heart leaps up when I behold A bailiff in the street: ’Twas so since from one first I ran; ’Twas so even in the Isle of Man: ’Twill be so even in Newgate hold, Or in the Fleet! A trap is hateful to a man; And my whole course of life shall be Bent against them in just antipathy! WILLIAM MAGINN. This parody originally appeared in the _Literary Gazette_ for 1820, p. 427. ――――:o:―――― Lines originally intended to have been inserted in the last edition of WORDSWORTH’S Poems. I. I met an old man on the road, His name was Robert Lake; Old man, said I, how do you do? He said his tooth did ache. II. I think, good Sir, he cried in grief, My tooth’s not worth a pin! But now and then to get relief I fill my mouth with gin. III. You fill your mouth with gin, said I, Your face, too, doth denote That now and then, by way of change, You pour it down your throat. IV. Indeed ’tis not a goodly drink, It fills the mind with doubt; And if your tooth doth ache, I think You’d better have it out. V. So to his tooth a string I tied, And pull’d right strong, forsooth; The old man held tight by the post, And soon out came his tooth. VI. The pain immediately took wing, No ghost e’er vanished quicker; “Ho,” quoth the man, “a bit of string Is better far than liquor.” From _The Satirist_. June 1, 1811. ―――― She was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament; (Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like twilight’s too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful dawn; A dancing shape, an image gay, To haunt, to startle, and waylay. I saw her upon nearer view, A spirit, yet a woman too! Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin liberty; A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A creature not too bright or good For human nature’s daily food; For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.