THE BARD OF TOTHAM 
 
 I 
 
 FAIN would my humble muse attempt to sing 
 The Totham Bard ; for — unlike Byron — he 
 Does not despise the humbler “sons of song;”— 
 While to his pen old Tiptree owes its fame. 
 
 And Epsom is indebted for renown. 
 
 “John Noakes and Mary Styles” will long be read,— 
 And will to ages yet unborn transmit. 
 
 In purity, tbe Essex Dialect. — 
 
 Though he, at pleasure, can his page adorn 
 With mirth-inspiring puns, and sparkling wit,— 
 
 And though his playful muse can well describe, 
 
 In the quaint phrase of drollery and fun. 
 
 The Horse-Race or the Fair, — yet is his mind 
 Attuned to feeling and to serious thought ; 
 
 For he will often pay the tribute due 
 
 To worth departed, or sing of “Sylvan Shades.” 
 
 31 . 
 
 HAILSHAM, SUSSEX, December, 1842.