[Page 224]

The QUESTION.

Occasion'd by a serious Admonition.

1 IS Mirth a Crime? Instruct me you that know;
2 Or shou'd these Eyes with Tears eternal flow:
3 No (let ye Powers) let this Bosom find,
4 Life's one grand Comfort a contented Mind:
5 Preserve this Heart, and may it find no room
6 For pale Despondence or unpleasing Gloom:
7 Too well the Mischief and the Pangs we know
8 Of doubtful Musing and prophetick Woe.
9 But now these Evils for a Moment rest,
10 And brighter Visions please the quiet Breast,
11 Where sprightly Health its blessed Cordial pours,
12 And chearful Thought deceives the gliding Hours:
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13 Then let me smile, and trifle while I may,
14 Yet not from Virtue nor from Reason stray:
15 From hated Slander I wou'd keep my Tongue;
16 My Heart from Envy, and from Guilt my Song:
17 Nature's large Volume with Attention read,
18 Its God acknowledge, and believe my Creed:
19 Through Weakness, not Impiety, offend;
20 But love my Parent, and esteem my Friend.
21 If (like the most) my undistinguish'd Days
22 Deserve not much of Censure or of Praise:
23 If my still Life, like subterraneous Streams,
24 Glides unobserv'd, nor tainted by Extremes,
25 Nor dreadful Crime has stain'd its early Page,
26 To hoard up Terrors for reflecting Age;
27 Let me enjoy the sweet Suspence of Woe,
28 When Heav'n strikes me, I shall own the Blow:
29 Till then let me indulge one simple Hour,
30 Like the pleas'd Infant o'er a painted Flow'r:
31 Idly 'tis true: But guiltlesly the Time
32 Is spent in trifling with a harmless Rhyme.
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33 Heroick Virtue asks a noble Mind,
34 A Judgment strong, and Passions well refin'd:
35 But if that Virtue's measur'd by the Will,
36 'Tis surely something to abstain from Ill.

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Title (in Source Edition): The QUESTION. Occasion'd by a serious Admonition.
Author: Mary Leapor
Themes:
Genres: heroic couplet

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Leapor, Mrs. (Mary), 1722-1746. Poems upon several occasions: By Mrs. Leapor of Brackley in Northamptonshire. London: printed: and sold by J. Roberts, 1748, pp. 224-226. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T127827; Foxon p. 413; OTA K101776.000) (Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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