* Quaere.

2

Yet, as I ane day hope to climb

Thro' some sma' chink to realms o' rhyme,
I trust ye winna think't a crime

If I scrawl verse,

But say I might hae wasted time
In writin' worse.*

3

Besides, I'm readin' Burns the poet,
And, as I wish'd to let you know it,
I thought the brawest gate to show it
An' mak' ye smile,

Wad be (tho' far I fa' below it)
To try his style.

4

Having set Pegasus agoin',

Wi' weel-nibb'd pen, and ink aflowin'
While yet my rhymin'-fit is growin',
Iset stick it out,

An' let ye ken in stanzas glowin'

What I'm about.

5

At present, then, your friend's reposin'
Upon a couch, his een half-closin.'

Sma', common minds wad think him dozin'
Or aiblins fou,t

While a' the time he's fast composin'

These lines to you.

'In writin' werse," as Sam Veller says (?) thus—“ I

might hae wasted time In writn' werse"-scil. verse. "Ise"-I will-I'll.

"Aiblins "-Anglice, perhaps.

"Fou"-corned.

6

You must excuse this ramblin' letter;
Upon my word I canna better,

For luve to thought's an awfu' fetter
As e'er was seen,

An' 'twas but late yestreen I met her
And-ah! those een!

7

Those liquid een o' winsome blue

(Like sparklin' draps o' heav'n's ain dew),
Those modest cheeks o' changin' hue,

Are aye before me;

Where'er I turn they meet my view

An' hover owre me!

8

To think o' her an' naething but her
Puts my puir heart in sic a flutter
That, troth! at last I canna utter
Ae* thing aright,

An' aften scarce escape the gutter
In braid daylight!

9

Fu' aft I've talk'd o' laughin' girls
An' sparklin' een and auburn curls
An' smiles disclosin' rows o' pearls,

Wi' mickle glee

But she, alas! my heartstrings dirls t
In spite o' me!

"Ae"- One, in contradistinction to "Ane," which is used

as in "Any one," "One says," etc.

+"Dirls"-causes to flutter.

10

Na, ne'er till now I've felt the sway
Of een that mock pure Hesper's ray,
An' voice as sweet as when in May
The playfu' breeze

Sighs aft as if it fain wad stay
Amid the trees.

II

10 o'clock P.M.

Geordie, while I was up here writin',
This letter dull to you inditin'

(Duty with Inclination fightin'

To keep me to it),

For rhymes my harmless goosequill bitin,'
I never knew it!

*Now she is gone my spirits, alas! have fled with her, as you may see by the dulness of my versification.

14

Oh! had I but ae lock o' hair

That now sae fondly nestles there,
Just peepin' out (her smiles to share)
Frae 'neath her bonnet,

For a' life's ills I wadna care

While gazin' on it!

15

The fact is, Geordie, I'm a fule,

Tho' nat accordin' t'ony rule

(As 'tis wi' some) drumm'd in at schule. By dint o' thrashin',

But worse-I'm Cupid's veriest tool,

The slave o' passion.

16

Yet, walkin' wi' her for a mile,
Hearin' her words, winnin' her smile,
Feelin' the force o' young luve's wile
In ilka dimple-

Is quite eneugh the sense to rile
O' wise or simple.

17

Dear frien', I charge ye ance for all
Keep out o' sight this silly scrawl,
Or may auld Clootie* on ye fall
Wi' awfu' scratches,

An' roast ye in infernal hall

Wi' brunstane matches!

"Auld Clootie "-the Deil-Old Nick.

18

May wee imps haunt your restless sleep,
An' when frae 'neath the claithes ye peep,
Wi' grinning face upon ye leap,

An' sair torment ye,

Because ye didna secret keep

The rhymes I sent ye.

19

Or, warse than a', may certain lasses
Cut faithless Geordie as he passes,
An' sternly eye wi' quizzin'-glasses
The luckless swain,

An' smilin' walk wi' stupid asses

To gie him pain!

Dear Geordie I end-I trust you are well,
And send the best wishes of

Lowell did not find the regular discipline and required studies of the college course suited to his taste. Other interests were more to him than those of the recitationroom. Required by the system of instruction which then prevailed to pursue certain studies for which he had no bent, with excusable boyish folly he asserted his independence by neglecting the set lesson, often substituting for it something of more worth intrinsically and for himself. But this negligence, persisted in, in spite of the remonstrance of friends, brought him finally under college discipline, and in the early summer of 1838 he was suspended for a period of several months, and was sent to Concord to carry