Sonnet CXLI.

Fera stella (se 'l cielo ha forza in noi).     TO PINE FOR HER IS BETTER THAN TO ENJOY HAPPINESS WITH ANY OTHER.         Ill-omen'd was that star's malignant gleam     That ruled my hapless birth; and dim the morn     That darted on my infant eyes the beam;     And harsh the wail, that told a man was born;     And hard the sterile earth, which first was worn     Beneath my infant feet; but harder far,     And harsher still, the tyrant maid, whose scorn,     In league with savage Love, inflamed the war     Of all my passions.--Love himself more tame,     With pity soothes my ills; while that cold heart,     Insensible to the devouring flame     Which wastes my vitals, triumphs in my smart.     One thought is comfort--that her scorn to bear,     Excels e'er prosperous love, with other earthly fair.     WOODHOUSELEE.         An evil star usher'd my natal morn     (If heaven have o'er us power, as some have said),     Hard was the cradle where I lay when born,     And hard the earth where first my young feet play'd;     Cruel the lady who, with eyes of scorn     And fatal bow, whose mark I still was made,     Dealt me the wound, O Love, which since I mourn     Whose cure thou only, with those arms, canst aid.     But, ah! to thee my torments pleasure bring:     She, too, severer would have wished the blow,     A spear-head thrust, and not an arrow-sting.     One comfort rests--better to suffer so     For her, than others to enjoy: and I,     Sworn on thy golden dart, on this for death rely.     MACGREGOR.