No tales of love to you I send,
No hidden flame discover,
I glory in the name of friend,
Disclaiming that of lover.
And now, while each fond sighing youth
Repeats his vows of love and truth,
Attend to this advice of mine--
With caution choose a VALENTINE.
Heed not the fop, who loves himself,
Nor let the rake your love obtain;
Choose not the miser for his pelf,
The drunkard heed with cold disdain;
The profligate with caution shun,
His race of ruin soon is run:
To none of these your heart incline,
Nor choose from them a VALENTINE.
But should some generous youth appear,
Whose honest mind is void of art,
Who shall his Maker’s laws revere,
And serve him with a willing heart;
Who owns fair Virtue for his guide,
Nor from her precepts turns aside;
To him at once your heart resign,
And bless your faithful VALENTINE.
Though in this wilderness below
You still imperfect bliss shall find,
Yet such a friend will share each woe,
And bid you be to Heaven resign’d:
While Faith unfolds the radiant prize,
And Hope still points beyond the skies,
At life’s dark storms you’ll not repine,
But bless the day of VALENTINE.
_Wit_ at a _pinch_.
A gentleman who left his snuffbox at a friend’s on St. Valentine’s Eve,
1825, received it soon after his return home in an envelope, sealed, and
superscribed--
To J---- E----, Esq.
Dear Sir,
I’ve just found proof enough,
You are _not_ worth a pinch of snuff;
_Receive_ the proof, seal’d up with care,
And _extract_ from it, that you _are_.
_Valentine_, 1825
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