Page:Father's memoirs of his child.djvu/51

xxxvii

Idle minutes are his reign;
   Then the straggler makes his gain,
   By presenting maids with toys,
   And would have ye think 'em joys:
   'Tis th' ambition of the elf,
   To have all childish as himself.

The two following little pieces are added, as well by way of contrast, as for the sake of their respective merits. In the first, there is a simple and pastoral gaiety, which the poets of a refined age have generally found much more difficult of attainment, than the glitter of wit, or the affectation of antithesis. The second rises with the subject. It wears that garb of grandeur, which the idea of creation communicates to a mind of the higher order. Our bard, having brought the topic he descants on from warmer latitudes than his own, is justified in adopting an imagery, of almost oriental feature and complection.