THE OLD MAN'S COMFORTS, AND HOW HE GAINED THEM. You are old, Father William the young man cried, Ι In the days of my youth, Father William replied You are old, Father William, the young man cried, And yet you lament not the days that are gone, In the days of my youth, Father William replied, I remember'd that youth could not last; I thought of the future, whatever I did, That I never might grieve for the past. You are old, Father William, the young man cried, And life must be hastening away; You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death, Now tell me the reason, I pray. I am cheerful, young man, Father William replied, Let the cause thy attention engage; In the days of my youth I remember'd my God! And He hath not forgotten my age. Westbury, 1799. TRANSLATION OF A GREEK ODE ON ASTRONOMY, WRITTEN BY S. T. COLERIDGE, FOR THE PRIZE AT CAMBRIDGE, 1793. 1. HAIL, venerable NIGHT! Thou who art doom'd in thy dark breast to veil Hail, venerable NIGHT! Glittering plays with lightning rays The varying clouds with many a hue attire Holy are the blue graces of thy zone! To some the glories of the Day, When, blazing with meridian ray, The gorgeous Sun ascends his highest throne; But I with solemn and severe delight Still watch thy constant car, immortal NIGHT! 2. For then to the celestial Palaces The Goddess who alone The host of Stars, a beauteous throng, In jubilee their mystic dance begun ; 3. Hail, O Urania, hail ! Queen of the Muses! Mistress of the Song ! For thou didst deign to leave the heavenly throng. As earthward thou thy steps wert bending, A ray went forth and harbinger'd thy way : All Ether laugh'd with thy descending. Thou hadst wreath'd thy hair with roses, Before thine awful mien, compelled to shrink, Or on the wings of storms Shriek to the mariner the shriek of Death. 4. I boast, O Goddess, to thy name To roam the starry path of Heaven, 5. Chariots of happy Gods! Fountains of Light! Ye Angel-Temples bright! May I unblamed your flamy thresholds tread? I leave the Moon serene, Beyond where Mars his fiercer light can fling, (The many belted king ;) Even to the solitude where Saturn reigns, |