Charles Lamb

Smiling river, smiling river,

Though they’re fleeting, and retreating,Thou hast more deceit than they.In thy channel, in thy channel,Choak’d with ooze and grav’lly stones,Deep immersed, and unhearsed,Lies young Edward’s corse: his bonesEver whitening, ever whitening,As thy waves against them dash;What thy torrent, in the current,Swallow’d, now it helps to wash.As if senseless, as if senselessThings had feeling in this…

Friend of my earliest years and childish days,

Companion dear, and we alike have fared(Poor pilgrims we) through life’s unequal ways;It were unwisely done, should we refuseTo cheer our path as featly as we may,Our lonely path to cheer, as travellers use,With merry song, quaint tale, or roundelay;And we will sometimes talk past troubles o’er,Of mercies shown, and all our sickness healed,And in…

JANE.

Better than I am in my bestWhite cambric-muslin frock.I wish I had one made of clearWorked lawn, or leno very dear.-And then my heart is brokeAlmost to think how cheap my dollWas bought, when hers cost-yes, cost fullA pound, it did, my brother;Nor has she had it weeks quite five,Yet, ’tis as true as I’m…

O why your good deeds with such pride do you scan,

At the shilling you gave to the poor working man,That lifted you over the stile?‘Tis not much; all the bread that can with it be bought,Will scarce give a morsel to eachOf his eight hungry children;-reflection and thoughtShould you more humility teach.Vainglory’s a worm which the very best actionWill taint, and its soundness eat through;But…

Prince Dorus

In days of yore, as Ancient Stories tell,A King in love with a great Princess fell.Long at her feet submiss the Monarch sigh’d,While she with stern repulse his suit denied.Yet was he form’d by birth to please the fair,Dress’d, danc’d, and courted, with a Monarch’s air;But Magic Spells her frozen breast had steel’dWith stubborn pride,…

My feeble Muse, that fain her best would

But feels her wits not in their best mood,Fell lately on some idle fancies,As she’s much given to romances,About this self-same style of Frances;Which seems to be a name in commonAttributed to man or woman.She thence contrived this flattering moral,With which she hopes no soul will quarrel,That she, whom this twin title decks,Combines what’s good…