I'm better far than when the Pole of May."

* * * * *


THE LAST WISH.

(_For the Mirror_.)


Edward Rose, who died at Barnes, bequeathed an annual amount of 20_l_. to
the parish, on condition that rose-trees should be planted round his tomb.

_Vide Crofton Croker._

Ay! o'er them shall the soft wind blow,
And kiss their lips of bloom--
The fair, the bright in sunset's glow;
--Plant roses on my tomb.

The cypress is a mournful tree,
And bodes an early doom;
But lovely eyes shall weep o'er me;
--Plant roses o'er my tomb.

When feverish dreams assail with dread
The bosom's haunted gloom,
Oh, why should we lament the dead?
--Plant roses on my tomb.