288 SELECT POETRY

Ah, fallen rose! sad emblem of their doom;
Frail as thyself, they perish while they bloom !
Bloomfield.

THE AFFECTION OF A DOG.

WHEN wise Ulysses,' from his native coast

Long kept by wars, and long by tempests tost,

Arrived at last, poor, old, disguised, alone,

To all his friends, and e’en his queen, unknown ;

Changed as he was, with age, and toils, and cares,

Furrowed his reverend face, and white his hairs,

In his own palaca forced to ask his bread,

Scorned by those slaves his former bounty fed ;

Forgot of all his own domestic crew,

The faithful dog alone his master knew !

Unfed, unhoused, neglected, on the clay,

Like an old servant, now cashiered,? he lay ;

And, though e’en then expiring on the plain,

Touched with resentment of ungrateful man,

And longing to behold his ancient Jord again,

Him when he saw, he rose, and crawled to meet—

‘Twas all he could—and fawned and kissed his
feet,

Seized with dumb joy; then falling by his side,

Owned his returning lord, looked up, and died !

¥ Ulysses—king of Ithaca, (an island in the Mediterranean
Sea,) and celebrated asa leader in the Trojan war.
* Cushiered—discarded, turned off.