As if drinking the breath of each sunny ray, Has its snowy robe around it thrown, Of pure large flowers where rich odours lie ;- They have enter'd their barks, and as they row A strain now wildly shrill, as from agony ; Now low as the sound of despair's last sigh. A pale woman, guiding a small canoe Has fixed their fierce gaze; but absorb'd in woe, Her dark hollow eyes roll abstractedly, While the voice of her grief breathes unconsciously, And the bloom from her youthful form is gone, A mother too, for her heaving breast, With its wild pulse rocks one child to rest, They have gathered round Yeruka's bark The chieftain's brow is gathering dark, And a tear on his rough cheek is glistening. YERUKA'S SONG. Oh bid me not join in the song of your gladness, Mine must a death dirge be; Nor echo your laugh, though I could laugh in madness, Or in grim mockery,-- My own heart I could mock, as beneath the death blow There are flowers on the earth, and warm beams in the sky, They cheer not, they warm not me ; And the sounds of rejoicing, that around me rise high, But wake me to misery. Songs, gladness, and laughter but shew me the gloom Of the desert of darkness, my soul has become. When the rich streams of love in the heart overflow, On the clear waves are caught every fair thing that now But when they have ebbed on the dry tideless shore Of the heart, lone and loveless, beam bright forms no more. Oh! it needed not her song to tell But love had urged the poison'd dart. Once was his life, and heeds them not! He flings all the wealth of the heart aside, But when waken'd, the fervour of woman's soul, Where its ardent thoughts clings, she gives the whole Of her faith, of her trust, nor can she ever Though 'tis anguish to hold, from these twined thoughts sever. The widow'd wife of a living lord, Yeruka, thy heart keeps thy plighted word; But the faith and the love once vow'd to thee, The prize of another thou couldst not see; From the soul that was faithless you fled, but in vain Again they pause in the river's tide, While those flowery isles float by the side Of their gather'd boats;-so like a dream, They pass so swift, and so fair they seem; You never could think they children were Of the wintry storm,---that the nenupher B b On their green shores spread, was twined o'er Of brilliant blossoms, its white head rears Now again, they row on their light canoes, To its dreadful doom; and her voice is clear The children who sportively pull in shreds The flowers with which she has wreath'd their heads. She pauses now, as the deaf'ning roar Of the tumbling torrent had prov'd its power Ev'n her to awe, who its rage defy'd. Now a sound, as if on it the heart had died,-- So thrilling, so sad, yet a tone of song, As to show what sweet sounds may to grief belong. A shriller tone! and a pause,---the last,-- The horror of her wild death is past.-- The cataract's fall, and the whirlpool's sweep, The Indian's moon of flowers* is come; JOSEPHINE ADA. * The month of May, or the part of the year corresponding with that which we so term, has obtained amongst the American Indians, the very poetic title of the "month of flowers," at which period, they leave, with much exultation, their winter retreats. AMUSEMENTS OF CORK IN 1749.-"On Hammond's Marsh, is a large pleasant bowling-green, planted, on its margin, with trees kept regularly cut, whose shade makes it an agreeable walk; it is also washed by a branch of the Lee; and on it, a band of music has been supported by a subscription, for the entertainment of the Gentlemen and Ladies who frequent it; adjacent to it, is the Assembly-House, where assemblies are held two days in the week, as also, a weekly concert, which is maintained by a subscription, for the support of the Infirmary. Here is an organ; the other performers play on violins, German flutes, &c., with vocal music, and are sometimes assisted by Gentlemen, who play to encourage this charity. Mardyke is a pleasant walk, being a bank, walled on both sides, and filled up, extending westerly from the city near an English mile, and washed on each hand by the channel of the river. This bank is carried through a marshy island, and was done at the private expence of Mr. Edward Webber, anno 1719, who also built an house on the west end, where are good gardens, planted with fruit, for the accommodation and entertainment of those who frequent this walk. "As to diversions, every entertainment that has the authority of fashion in Dublin, (which place also takes its example from London) prevail here; and some, perhaps, in a higher degree: card playing, in the winter evenings, is an entertainment observed to be more used in Ireland, among polite people, than in England; the Ladies are rather fonder of this amusement than the men; and dancing, that pretty innocent house diversion, hardly yields to it in their eyes; for which purpose, here is a weekly drum, besides the assembly where caid playing is intermixed with dancing. Besides the public concerts, there are several private ones, where the performers are Gentlemen and Ladies of such good skill, that one would imagine the god of music had taken a large stride from the continent, over England, to this island; for indeed, the whole nation are of late become admirers of this entertainment; and those who have no ear for music, are generally so |