Poems (Nealds)/Written in my Nephew's Souvenir
WRITTEN IN MY NEPHEW'S SOUVENIR.
Dear John I'd willingly comply With any wish of thine;But really 'tis in vain I try In poetry to shine.
The muse of late has been unkind, And wont vouchsafe a smile;Therefore I had made up my mind To leave her for a while.
But on your strong solicitation, That in your book Id write,I'll send a pressing invitation For her to come to night.
Indeed I think she'll not refuse So old a friend as me,And if to dine she does not choose, Perhaps she'll come to tea.
And I will beg her to rehearse For me some bright idea,On which I'll try to form a verse For dear John's Souvenir.
After writing the above in the Souvenir, I placed it in the hands of my niece for her perusal, when she exclaimed, "Aunt, you have missed a leaf," and to my utter dismay I found two leaves had adhered together from the dampness of the binding. I, therefore, strove to repair the error by inserting in the omitted pages the following lines.
Sure nothing ever yet was so provoking; I've miss'd a leaf you say! you cannot mean it!Nay, do not laugh; I think it's past all joking! Pray take the book—I wish I'd never seen it.
I'm sure some mischief-loving sprite The leaves had been cementing,And now is laughing with delight, To hear me thus lamenting.
I know not how I can repair This sad, this dire mistake,If I had Russell's[1] pencil fair, Some pretty sketch I'd make.
But that, alas! is not the case, And I'm compell'd to fillThis terribly vexatious space With nonsense 'gainst my will.
- ↑ A promising young artist resident at Guildford in Surrey, whose beautiful sketches we had seen a few days previously.