THE NEW RIVER.

Thou pleasant river! in the summer time

About thy margin I delight to stray,

Perusing Byron’s captivating rhyme,

And drinking inspiration from his lay!

For there is something in thy placid stream

That gives a keener relish to his song,

And makes the spirit of his numbers seem

More fascinating as I move along:--

There is besides upon thy waves a moral,

With which it were ridiculous to quarrel;

For, like the current of our lives, they flow

Thro’ multifarious channels, till they go

Down into darkness, and preserve no more

The “form and feature” they possess’d before!