To the Editor of the Mirror
Near the Shepherd and Shepherdess,
City Road, Sept. 1, 1802
Sir,
Not having for a long time past contributed to your publication,
I here send you a trifle, which I do not esteem to be any way striking or novel.
If you give place to it, it is much at your service, with my most sincere
acknowledgement to your more constant correspondents.
The news of Dermody's death [1] is truly
afflicting; and glad am I to find the literary worthies were not backward in
relieving his distress, however his distress came.
I have not composed any small pieces lately, and the enclosed was
written in May last, without any thought of publication. I stumbled upon it
yesterday, and lo! Here it is.
Sir, your rheumatic old friend
Bloomfield
I
With lovely pearl the western sky
Is glowing far and wide,
And yon light golden clouds that fly
So slowly side by side;
The deepening tints, the arch of light,
E'en I with rapture see;
And sigh, and bless the charming sight
That lures my love from me.
II
O Hill! That shad'st the valley here,
Thou bear'st on thy green brow
The only wealth to Mary dear,
And all she'll ever know.
Full in the crimson light I see
Above thy summit rise
My Edward's form; he looks to me
A statue in the skies
III
Descend, my love, the hour is come;
Why linger on the hill?
The sun hath left my quiet home,
But thou canst see him still;
Yet why a lonely wanderer stray?
Alone the joy pursue?
The glories of the closing day
Can charm thy Mary too.
IV
O Edward, when we strolled along
Beneath the waving corn,
And both confess'd the power of song,
And bless'd the dewy morn;
To thy fond words my heart replied,
(My presence then could move,)
'How sweet, with Mary by my side,
To gaze and talk of love.'
V
Thou are not false;—that cannot be!
Yet I my rivals deem
Each woodland charm, the moss, the tree,
The silence, and the stream.
If these, my love, detain thee now,
I'll yet forgive thy stay;
But with tomorrow's dawn come thou—
We'll brush the dews away.
[2]