ÆOLUS
I am not disposed to court the powers of this poet-made god—except on a sultry summer’s day, when not a breath of air is in motion; at such a moment one might exclaim:—
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
EPITAPH FOR A YOUNG LADY
Youth, cheerfulness, and health, gave up their reign,
To all the bitterness of mortal pain.
Unshaken fortitude possess’d her mind,
And sense grew bright as beauty’s rose declined.
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
[WINE, beauty, smiles, and social mirth]
Wine, beauty, smiles, and social mirth,
Right welcome to the table;
These!—every mother’s son of earth
Will honour!—while he’s able.
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
FRAGMENT
’Twas when the abbey rear’d its spires,
Where good St. Edmund buried lies,
A cloister’d maid, with holy fires,
Subdued Love’s rebel tears and sighs.
At times subdued, at times she wept, 5
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
THE FLOWERS OF THE MEAD
How much to be wish’d that the flowers of the mead
The pleasures of converse could yield;
And be to our bosoms, wherever we tread,
The reasoning sweets of the field!
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
CHARITY
In moorland cot—or hovel by the road,
Rest the poor Peasant and his shiv’ring boy,
—And theirs we deem Contentment’s blest abode,
Where Fancy riots in ideal joy!—
Shall this bar charity—when spare and thin5
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
HAPPINESS OF GLEANERS
—Welcome the cot’s
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
THE SOLDIER’S RETURN
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
HOB’S EPITAPH
A Grey-owl was I when on earth;
My master, a wondrous wise-man,
Found out my deserts and my worth,
And would needs have me bred an exciseman.
REMAINS OF ROBERT BLOOMFIELD (1824)
GOOD NATURE
Much of good nature, grey-beards tell,
And make a great to-do:
I’ve weigh’d their bold assertions well,
And now believe them true.
Let beauty’s bloom improve or fade,5
Wit bring its good or harm,