"Begone ye hopes of tender ties,
Of smiling home with wife and child,
Of all love's tender sympathies,
That once a rugged soul beguiled!
In vain may Beauty deck her crown,
And winning Goodness try her plan,
I trust no more--the guile of ONE
Hath changed me to a savage man.
"If in this world I smile again,
Twill be to see the charming eye
Like _hers_--the smile--each effort plain,
And think I can them all defy.
You tell me these are Nature's ways,
But Nature tells me to beware;
And while each angler smiling plays,
So shall I play to shun the snare.
"Mocked by the glamour of the eye,
I dread all things surpassing fair;
The sweetest flower but makes me sigh
To think there may be poison there.
Were I inclined to change my part,
And seek again domestic peace,
I'd seek for beauties in the heart,
Though seen through a _revolting_ face.
"By the heart-pulses of my love,
By all the things once dear to me,
By every tree within the grove,
By every bird upon the tree,
By every tint upon its wing,
By every note of melodie
That close by HER I've heard it sing,
_Cursed be the dame of Dowielee_."
VII.
Burde Olive sat at the evening hour
Within her mother's painted bower:
It was a ruthless winter night.
When beasts and birds cowered with affright
From brattling winds that, roving free,
Moaned in the woods of Dowielee.
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