FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   >>  
Mrs. Vanderclump. * * * * * _La Villegiatura_ is a pleasant article; but we do not think there is much of the "love of pastoral associations" left in the English character, and we are sorry for it. The _Rustic Wreath_, by Miss Mitford, is very sweet; the _Cacadore_, a story of the peninsular war, is a soul-stirring narrative; there is much pleasantry in Mrs. Hofland's _Comforts of Conceitedness; Virginia Water_, by the editor, could hardly be written by his fireside--it has too much local inspiration in every line; _Auguste de Valcour_, by the author of _Gilbert Earle_, is in his usual felicitous vein of philosophic melancholy; Miss Roberts has a glittering _Tale of Normandy_; the _Orphans_, by the editor, is simple and pathetic; _Palinodia_ we subjoin:-- There was a time when I could feel All passion's hopes and fears, And tell what tongues can ne'er reveal, By smiles, and sighs, and tears. The days are gone! no more, no more, The cruel fates allow; And, though I'm hardly twenty-four, I'm not a lover now. Lady, the mist is on my sight, The chill is on my brow; My day is night, my bloom is blight-- I'm not a lover now! I never talk about the clouds, I laugh at girls and boys, I'm growing rather fond of crowds, And very fond of noise; I never wander forth alone Upon the mountain's brow; I weighed, last winter, sixteen stone,-- I'm not a lover now! I never wish to raise a veil, I never raise a sigh; I never tell a tender tale, I never tell a lie; I cannot kneel as once I did; I've quite forgot my bow; I never do as I am bid,-- I'm not a lover now! I make strange blunders every day, If I would be gallant, Take smiles for wrinkles, black for grey. And nieces for their aunt; I fly from folly, though it flows From lips of loveliest glow; I don't object to length of nose,-- I'm not a lover now! The muse's steed is very fleet-- I'd rather ride my mare; The poet hunts a quaint conceit-- I'd rather hunt a hare; I've learnt to utter yours and you Instead of thine and thou; And oh! I can't endure a Blue!-- I'm not a lover now! I find my Ovid dry, My Petrarch quite a pill, Cut Fancy for Philosophy, Tom Moore for Mr. Mill; And belles may read, and beaux may write, I care not who or how; I burnt
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   >>  



Top keywords:
editor
 

smiles

 
blunders
 

gallant

 
wrinkles
 
strange
 
mountain
 

sixteen

 

weighed

 

winter


tender

 

forgot

 

Petrarch

 

Instead

 

endure

 

Philosophy

 

belles

 

loveliest

 

length

 

object


wander

 

conceit

 

learnt

 

quaint

 
nieces
 
fireside
 

written

 

inspiration

 

Virginia

 

pleasantry


Hofland

 
Comforts
 
Conceitedness
 

Auguste

 

felicitous

 

philosophic

 

melancholy

 

Valcour

 

author

 
Gilbert

narrative
 
stirring
 

pastoral

 

associations

 
article
 

Vanderclump

 

Villegiatura

 

pleasant

 

English

 
character