Page:Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems Volume I.pdf/22

 x PREFACE

might be better liked by the public -- "Tou- "jours perdrix," said my friend -- "Toujours "perdrix," you know, "ne vaut rien." -- I am far from supposing that your compositions can be can be neglected or disapproved, on whatever subject: but perhaps "toujours Rossignols, toujours des "chanson triste," may not be so well received as if you attempted, what you would certainly execute as successfully, a more cheerful style of composition. "Alas! replied I, "Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?" Or can the effect cease, while the cause remains? You know that when in the Beech Woods of Hampshire, I first struck the chords of the melancholy lyre, its notes were never intended for the public ear! It was unaffected sorrows drew them forth: I wrote mournfully because I was unhappy -- And I have unfortunately no reason yet, though nine years have since elapsed, to