Daffodils.

DAFFODILS .

( From an unpublished blank verse poem , entitled Welcombe Hills , or the Land of Shakspere , composed by Bro . GEORGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL , during a week ' s visit to the late Mark Philips , Esq ., at AVelcombe House , Stratford-on-Avon . )

Fair Daffodils , ( erst known as oflo dyles , Or "that which conieth early , " ) as of old , Ye " come before the swallow dares , and take The winds of March with beauty , " * as ye did

When SIIAKSPERE ' eyes beheld you — and as when His well loved Spenser t look'd with such delight On your bri ght amber coronals , that shine Midst paler petals , like some holy flame—The bloodless

sacrifice you offer up On nature ' s altar to the God of all . Dear DRAYTOS , Shakspere ' s friend , he loved you too . It \ yas no base idolatry , I ween , Which caused our pious fathers to adorn Their churches with your " Lenten lilies " fair !

Better than burning candles at mid-day Is gazing with deli ght on your pure flame . Brave MILTON —' ere long blindness fell upon The patriot-bard—loved well to see your flags Of purest yellow waving in the breeze

, Like banners of his country ' s liberty : Hence with deli ght he sings in that fine poem , His Comus , how each sheperdess and swain Assembled on the Severn ' s flowery banks , To " throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream "—

Garlands of which you forni'd important part—In memory of Sabrina , " virgin pure ; Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine , That had the sceptre from hisfather Brute ;" But , " guiltless damsel , flying the mad

pursuit Of her enraged stepdame , Guendolen , Commended her pure innocence to the flood , That stay'd her fli ght , "—as MILTON sweetly sings . Now you have bloom'd and perish'd for the year ,

Daffodils.

And , like sweet HERRICK , I could weep to see You haste away so soon . " But you will bloom Again in early spring ; and in the verse Of our true poets you will bloom for aye .

DRYDEN , too , loved you ; and the great high-priest Of Nature , WORDSWORTH , felt his soul on fire With your pure flame , when he beheld that "host

Of golden Daffodils beside the lake , Beneath the trees , " to nature ' s harmony All " fluttering and dancing in the breeze ;" So that I feel to fear no worldling ' s scorn In owning that I love you , Daffodils , As greater bards have done in clays gone

hf , And every flower that blows to me hath charms , That raise my thoughts from things of earth to heaven .

Les Macons Indifferents.*

LES MACONS INDIFFERENTS . *

From Le Monde Maconnique . L'indiffdrence est un etat particulier de lame , qui fait que rien de ce qui a rapport a certaines choses ou a certaines personnes