The bright embrace of Saturn's amorous son.
Pour'd from high Heaven athwart thy brazen tower,
Jove bends propitious in a glittering shower:
Take, gladly take, the boon the Fates impart;
Press the gilt treasure to thy panting heart:
And to thy venal sex this truth unfold,
How few, like Danae, grasp both god and gold.

J. SMITH.

THE DOG-STAR SPIRIT.

SUGGESTED BY CERTAIN PAPERS ENTITLED 'MIND AND INSTINCT,' IN THE
KNICKERBOCKER.

Calm be thy slumbers, faithful TRAY,
Calm in thy bed
Low-gathered underneath the clay,
Where they have laid thy bones away,
And left thee--dead!

No common dog, dear TRAY, wert thou
In life's short age;
For _instinct_ shone upon thy brow,
And something in thy deep bow-wow
Proclaimed the sage.

When ugly curs at evening made
Their hideous wail,
Mutely thy musing eye surveyed
Bright themes for thought around displayed,
Perched on thy tail.

Oft have I seen thy vision turned
Up to the skies,
Where thy intelligence discerned
In all the little stars that burned,
Strange mysteries.

And then, thy keen glance fixed on one
That glimmered far;
'If souls of men live when they're gone,'
Thou thought'st, 'why not of dogs when flown,
In yonder star?

'Though diverse in our natures, yet
It don't ensue
That other judgment we should meet,
Because we muster four good feet
Instead of two.

'And if in some light, wanton freak
Of Nature's mind,
She planted hair upon our back,
And, in capricious mood, did tack
A tail behind:

'It matters not. That coat of hair
Is very thin;
But the habiliment we wear
To warm the heart from wintry air,
We have within.

'Ah, no! what selfish man would have
For _him_ alone,
To us a title Nature gave:
_We_ too shall live beyond the grave,
When we are gone.'

Now, when at twilight's solemn hour,
O'er field and lea,
I see the dog-star gently pour
Its beamy light--a golden shower--
I think of thee!

And well, I wot, thy spacious mind,
With journey brief,
Hath mounted like a breath of wind;
And thou art in that orb enshrined,
A thing of life.

Then peace be with thine ashes, TRAY,
In their long rest:
Faithful wert thou in