BOOK III. FAMILIAR AND EPISTOLARY. TO MISS CRUICKSHANKS, A VERY YOUNG LADY, -WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF of a BOOK, PRESENTED TO HER BY THE Author. BEAUTEOUS rose-bud, young and gay, Blooming on thy early May, Never may'st thou, lovely flower, Chilly shrink in sleety show'r! Never Boreas' hoary path, Never Eurus' pois'nous breath, Taint thee with untimely blights. Riot on thy virgin leaf! Nor even Sol too fiercely view Thy bosom blushing still with dew! May'st thou long sweet crimson gem, And ev'ry bird y requiem sings ; Thou, amid the dirgeful sound, The loveliest form she e'er gave birth. VERSES ON A YOUNG LADY, RESIDING ON THE BANKS OF THE SMALL RIVER DEVON, IN CLACKMANNANSHIRE, BUT WHOSE INFANT YEARS WERE SPENT IN AYRSHIRE How pleasant the banks of the clear-winding Devon, With green spreading bushes, and flow'rs blooming fair; But the boniest flow'r on the banks of the Devon Was once a sweet bud on the braes of the Ayr. Mild be the sun on this sweet-blushing flower, In the gay, rosy morn, as it bathes in the dew! And gentle the fall of the soft vernal shower, That steals on the evening each leaf to renew. O, spare the dear blossom, ye orient breezes, With chill, hoary wing, as ye usher the dawn! And far be thou distant, thou reptile that seizes The verdure and pride of the garden and lawn. Let Bourbon exult in his gay gilded lilies, And England triumphant display her proud rose; A fairer than either adorns the green valleys Where Devon, sweet Devon, meandering flows. TO MISS L WITH BEATTIE'S POEMS AS A NEW-YEAR'S GIFT, 'AN‹ UARY 1, 1787. AGAIN the silent wheels of time Their annual round have driv'n, No gifts have I, from Indian coasts, I send you more than India boasts, Our sex with guile and faithless love VERSES TO A YOUNG LADY, WITH A PRESENT OF SONGS, HERE, where the Scottish muse immortal lives, Rich is the tribute of the grateful mind. So may no ruffian-feeling in thy breast Or pity's notes, in luxury of tears, As modest want the tale of wo reveals; While conscious virtue all the strain endears, And heav'n-born piety her sanction seals. VERSES WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF OF A COPY OF HIS POEMS, PRESENTED TO A LADY, WHOM HE HAD OF◄ TEN CELEBRATED UNDER THE NAME OF CHLORIS. "TIs Friendship's pledge, my young, fair friend, Nor with unwilling ear attend The moralizing muse. Since thou, in all thy youth and charms, Must bid the world adieu, (A world 'gainst peace in constant arms,) Since, thy gay morn of life o'ercast, Since life's gay scenes must charm no more, Stil. much is left behind; Still nobler wealth hast thou in store, – The comforts of the mind! Thine is the self-approving glow, The joys refin'd of sense and taste, MISS JESSY L TO A YOUNG LADY, DUMFRIES; WITH BOOKS WHICH THE BARD PRESENTED HER. THINE be the volumes, Jessy fair, |