200
HOURS OF IDLENESS.
TO THE EARL OF CLARE.[1]
Tu semper amoris
Sis memor, et cari comitis ne abscedat imago.
Val. Flac. Argonaut, iv. 36.
1.
Friend of my youth! when young we rov'd,
Like striplings, mutually belov'd,
With Friendship's purest glow;
The bliss, which wing'd those rosy hours,
Was such as Pleasure seldom showers
On mortals here below.
2.
The recollection seems, alone,
Dearer than all the joys I've known,
When distant far from you:
Though pain, 'tis still a pleasing pain,
To trace those days and hours again,
And sigh again, adieu!
3.
My pensive mem'ry lingers o'er,
Those scenes to be enjoy'd no more,
Those scenes regretted ever;
The measure of our youth is full,
Life's evening dream is dark and dull,
And we may meet—ah! never!
- ↑ To the Earl of ——.—[Poems O. and T.]
