undoubtedly true In the reign of the Emperor Hwang. ENVOY. Come, snarl at my ecstasies, do, Kind critic; your "tongue has a tang," But—a sage never heeded a shrew In the reign of the Emperor Hwang. ENVOY BALLADE OF THE BOOK-HUNTER In torrid heats of late July, In March, beneath the bitter bise, He book-hunts while the loungers fly,— He book-hunts, though December freeze; In breeches baggy at the knees, And heedless of the public jeers, For these, for these, he hoards his fees,— Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs. No dismal stall escapes his eye, He turns o'er tomes of low degrees, There soiled romanticists may lie, Or Restoration comedies; Each tract that flutters in the breeze For him is charged with hopes and fears, In mouldy novels fancy sees Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs. With restless eyes that peer and spy, Sad eyes that heed not skies nor trees, In dismal nooks he loves to pry, Whose motto ever more is Spes! But ah! the fabled treasure flees; Grown rarer with the fleeting years, In rich men's shelves they take their ease,— Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs! ENVOY. Prince, all the things that tease and please,— Fame, hope, wealth, kisses, cheers, and tears, What are they but such toys as these— Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs? ENVOY BALLADE TO THEOCRITUS, IN WINTER ἐσορῶν τὰν Σικελὰν ἐς ἅλα. Id. viii. 56. Ah! leave the smoke, the wealth, the roar Of London, leave the bustling street, For still, by the Sicilian shore, The murmur of the Muse is sweet. Still, still, the suns of summer greet The mountain-grave of Helikê, And shepherds still their songs repeat Where breaks the blue Sicilian sea. What though they worship Pan no more, That guarded once the shepherd's seat, They chatter of their rustic lore, They watch the wind among the wheat: Cicalas chirp, the young lambs bleat, Where whispers pine to cypress tree; They count the waves that idly beat Where breaks the blue Sicilian sea. Theocritus! thou canst restore The pleasant years, and over-fleet; With thee we live as men of yore, We rest where running waters meet: And then we turn unwilling feet And seek the world—so must it be— We may not linger in the heat Where breaks the blue Sicilian sea! ENVOY. Master,—when rain, and snow, and sleet And northern winds are wild, to thee We come, we rest in thy retreat, Where breaks the blue Sicilian sea! Id. viii. 56. ENVOY VALENTINE IN FORM OF BALLADE. Te soft wind from the south land sped, He set his strength to blow, From forests where Adonis bled, And lily