Oft, when a careless child,
Beneath its shade I heard
The wood-notes sweet and wild,
Of many a forest bird.
By mother kiss'd me here,
My father press'd my hand,
I ask thee, with a tear,
Oh, let that old oak stand.
My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close at thy bark, old friend--
Here shall the wild bird sing,
And still thy branches bend.
Old tree, the storm still brave,
And, woodman, leave the spot--
While I've a hand to save
Thy axe shall harm it not.
_General G.P. Morris._
THE TOKEN
The breeze was fresh, the ship in stays,
Each breaker hush'd, the shore a haze.
When Jack no more on duty call'd,
His true love's tokens overhaul'd;
The broken gold, the braided hair,
The tender motto, writ so fair,
Upon his 'bacco-box he views,
Nancy the poet, love the muse.
"If you loves I, as I loves you,
No pair so happy as we two."
The storm, that like a shapeless wreck,
Had strew'd with rigging all the deck,
That tars for sharks had giv'n a feast,
And left the ship a hulk--had ceas'd:
When Jack, as with his messmates dear,
He shared the grog their hearts to cheer,
Took from his 'bacco-box a quid,
And spell'd for comfort on the lid
"If you loves I, as I loves you,
No pair so happy as we two.
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