Henry Livingston, Jr.
Could Any of These Poems be by Major Henry Livingston, Jr?




On a ROBIN's being taken
in a young Lady's Bed-Chamber


On sportive pinions once I flew,
And rang'd the meadows round;
For me the peach and cherry grew,
No want, nor grief I found.

But short the date of pleasure is,
While sorrows long prevail.
Gone is the flattering scene of bliss--
Ah, hear my plaintive tale!

The fowler came with fatal art,
No friendly hand was nigh,
He pierc'd my bleeding lover's heart,
I saw him fall and die!

Deep in the bosom of a wood
I rear'd my chirping young;
For them I sought the sweetest food,
For them serenely sung.

A school boy saw the downy nest
Where all my treasure lay;
No pity touch'd his harden'd breast,
He stole my young away.

Of love and pleasure thus bereft
What can the wretched do?
What other refuge now is left?
For help I fly to you.

To you whose tender bosom knows
To feel for others' pain;
To whom the wretched tell their woes
Nor ever tell in vain.

By thy kind care and bounty fed
My griefs will lose their sting;
Again I'll raise my drooping head,
And plume my shatter'd wing.

Again I'll hail the rising day,
While pleasures round me throng;
And raise my sweetest notes, to pay
Thy bounties with my song.

New-York, Oct. 20, 1788.





        
NAVIGATION


Writing,     Documents,     Letters,     Poetry,     Prose

Illustrated 1823 Night Before Christmas

All Henry Livingston's Poetry,     All Clement Moore's Poetry     Historical Articles About Authorship

Many Ways to Read Henry Livingston's Poetry

Arguments,   Smoking Gun?,   Reindeer Names,   First Publication,   Early Variants  
Timeline Summary,   Witness Letters,   Quest to Prove Authorship,   Scholars,   Fiction  


   Book,   Slideshow,   Xmas,   Writing,   The Man,   Work,   Illos,   Music,   Genealogy,   Bios,   History,   Games  


Henry's Home


Mary's Home


IME logo Copyright © 2012, InterMedia Enterprises