* * * * * TWO SONNETS. _To M---- F----_. (_For the Mirror_.) I. I met thee, ----, when the leaves were green, And living verdure clothed the countless trees; When meadow flowers allured the summer bees, And silvery skies shone o'er the cloudless scene, Bright as my thoughts when wand'ring to thy home; Where Nature looks _as though she were divine_, Not in the richness of the rip'ning vine, Not in the splendour of imperial Rome. It is a ruder scene of rocks and trees, Where even barrenness is beauty--where The glassy lake, below the mountain bare, Curls up its waters 'neath the casual breeze; And, 'midst the plenitude of flower and bud, Sweet violets hide them in the hilly wood. II. I parted with thee one autumnal day, When o'er the woods the northern tempest beat-- The spoils of autumn rustling at our feet, And Nature wept to see her own decay. The pliant poplar bent beneath the blast; The moveless oak stood warring with the storm, Which bow'd the pensive willow's weaker form; And naught gave token that thy love would last, Save the mute eloquence of forcing tears; Save the low pleading of thy ardent sighs, The fervent gazing of thy glowing eyes; A firm assurance, spite of all my fears, That, as the sunshine dries the summer rain, Thy _future_ smile should bless for parting pain. * * H. * * * * * ILLUSTRATION OF SOME OLD PROVERBS, &c. (_For the Mirror_.) _"Ax." To ask_. This word which now passes for a mere vulgarism, is the original Saxon form, and used by Chaucer and others. See "Tyrwhitt's Glossary." We find it also in Bishop Bale's "God's Promises." "That their synne vengeaunce _axed_ continually." Old Plays. i. 18. Also in the "Four P.'s," by Heywood, "And _axed_ them thys question than." Old Pl. i. 84. An _axing_ is used by Chaucer for a request. Ben Jonson introduces it jocularly: "A man out of wax, As a lady would ax." _Masques_, vol. 6, p. 85.