Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/242

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WHAT DO THE FUTURES SPEAK OF?


They speak of pleasure to the gay,
And wisdom to the wise;
And soothe the poet's beating heart
With fame that never dies.

To virgins languishing in love
They speak the minute nigh;
And warm consenting hearts they join,
And paint the rapture high.

In every language, every tongue,
The same kind things they say ;
In gentle slumbers speak by night,
In waking dreams by day.

Cassandra's fate reversed is theirs;
She true, no faith could gain,—
They every passing hour deceive,
Yet are believed again.