"Once I adorn'd the Strand, But now have found My way to pound, In Baron Newton's land; Where my aspiring head aloft is rear'd, T' observe the motions of the ethereal herd. "Here sometimes rais'd a machine by my side, Through which is seen the sparkling milky tide: Here oft I'm scented with a balmy dew, A pleasing blessing which the Strand ne'er knew. "There stood I only to receive abuse, But here converted to a nobler use; So that with me all passengers will say, I'm better far than when the Pole of May." * * * * * THE LAST WISH. (_For the Mirror_.) Edward Rose, who died at Barnes, bequeathed an annual amount of 20_l_. to the parish, on condition that rose-trees should be planted round his tomb. _Vide Crofton Croker._ Ay! o'er them shall the soft wind blow, And kiss their lips of bloom-- The fair, the bright in sunset's glow; --Plant roses on my tomb. The cypress is a mournful tree, And bodes an early doom; But lovely eyes shall weep o'er me; --Plant roses o'er my tomb. When feverish dreams assail with dread The bosom's haunted gloom, Oh, why should we lament the dead? --Plant roses on my tomb. The birds shall sing, amid their leaves, To skies of richest bloom; But cypress-shade the spirit grieves;-- --Plant roses on my tomb. I loved them when a careless child, And bless'd their deep perfume, When lute and song my dreams beguiled; --Plant roses on my tomb. The fragrance touch'd with golden light, And beautified with bloom;-- Oh, plant them in the sunset bright, To consecrate my tomb. R.A.[8] [8] Our correspondent assures us that the above lines were written many months before "The Tribute of Roses" appeared in the _Literary Gazette_.--See _Mirror_, vol. xvi. page 176. * * * * * HALCYON DAYS. (_To the Editor_.) In illustration of your correspondent P.T.W.'s article, entitled "Halcyon Days," in No. 471, I beg to furnish you with the following, from a friend's album:-- There is a bird, a little bird, of plumage bright and gay, Free as the tenants of the sea, free as its finny prey; In wintry storms she lays her eggs, the briny sands among, And twice seven days sweet calms succeed where billows roared along. These are the sailor's _Halcyon Days_, when pleasure's on the main; The young ones hatched, the storm appears, and Boreas rules again. H.H.C. * * * * * ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH TITLE "DUKE OF CLARENCE." (_To the Editor_.)