Page:Glenarvon (Volume 1).djvu/227

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covered by a cowl, and in a voice like music, so soft and plaintive begun.—

The task to tell thy fate, be mine,
To guard against its ills, be thine;
For heavy treads the foot of care
On those who are so young and fair.

The star, that on thy birth shone bright,
Now casts a dim uncertain light:
A threatening sky obscures its rays,
And shadows o'er thy future days.

In fashion's magic circle bound,
Thy steps shall tread her mazy round,
While pleasure, flattery and art,
Shall captivate thy fickle heart.

The transient favorite of a day,
Of folly and of fools the prey;
Insatiate vanity shall pine
As honour, and as health decline,
Till reft of fame, without a friend,
Thou'lt meet, unwept, an early end.

Lady Avondale coloured; and the young man who had accused her of ca-