the auditors. So was "Indulgent parents dear," an ancient ballad of considerable length, and most tragical character. Many an eye, that sparkled with curiosity, when the hero of the tale, moved by love, sought the hand of a "maid of low degree," was dilated with horrour, when his proud mother took the life of the kneeling fair-one; or was suffused with tears, when the unfortunate youth, discovering the deed, and reproaching the guilty murderess—
And pierc'd his bosom through,
And bade this world adieu,
Forevermore."
The address of the "Ghost of Pompey to his wife Cornelia," was considered as the climax of this part of the entertainment. It is here subjoined, as a specimen of the grave song, admired at that period among the better educated part of the community. Its antiquity is not known to the writer, but it has been used as a song in Connecticut, for more than a century.
From joys refin'd, above allay,
And from a spring without decay—
I come!—by Cynthia's borrow'd beams,
To visit my Cornelia's dreams,
And give them yet sublimer themes.
Behold the man thou lov'dst before!
Pure streams have wash'd away his gore,
And Pompey now shall bleed no more.
