Poems and Essays

by Joseph Howe

 

TOM’S APOLOGY.

 
    [The son of Judge Haliburton (The Clockmaker) very early evinced a taste for musical composition, so strong, that he deserted all the sports of boyhood to sit for hours at the piano. This decided bias towards a pursuit but little adapted to the circumstances of a new country, occasioned much parental anxiety. The following verses were written for Tom, on his presenting the writer with an original air:]

Oh! tempt me not with meaner joys,
    Nor frown, if I decline
The sports so lov’d by other Boys—
    The World of Sound is mine. [Page 176]

I care not for the busy crowd
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    Where noisy mirth prevails,
Where peals of laughter, long and loud,
    Swell Pleasure’s glittering sails.

The idle jest, the vacant mind,
    Let others freely share,
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In Music’s spells I still can find
    Delights more rich and rare.

Oh! let me yet each note prolong,
    And treasure every tone
That haunts the magic realms of Song
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    And make them all my own.

Just as the birds that Heavenward soar
    The troubled earth above
From brighter regions catch and pour
    The simple strains they love. [Page 177]
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