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TO MIRANDA,

ON HER DETERMINING TO ASSUME THE VEIL.

1 WHY quits Miranda thus life's busy scene?
2 Why seeks she now the Convent's gloom serene?
3 Can, then, this giddy world no pleasure give,
4 That here the fair Miranda scorns to live?
5 Why, pensive maid, to routs, to lively balls,
6 Prefer the gloomy Convent's hallow'd walls?
7 Ah, stay! and let mankind adore these charms,
8 That ought to bless some favour'd lover's arms:
9 Yet, stop! methinks I hear Miranda say
10 (Whilst now she smiling reads my uncouth lay),
11 "Though vulgar souls may wonder at my choice,
12 May dare to censure with a common voice;
13 Yet I'm resolv'd, since in those shades no fools
14 Are led by Fashion's or by Folly's rules.
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15 'Tis only in the dear sequester'd cell
16 Where peace is found, and where the virtues dwell;
17 Contented there my future days I'll spend,
18 There taught, in hope and triumph meet my end:
19 Then in some time-worn Cloister's hallow'd gloom
20 The sister Nuns will rear Miranda's tomb;
21 Whilst some pale trembling lamp shall ever burn,
22 To mark the spot where rests my mould'ring urn."
23 Thus speaks in accents soft the pensive maid,
24 Who to the blaze of day prefers the shade,
25 Who wisely shuns what Folly pleasure calls,
26 And flies for refuge to a Convent's walls.
27 Reluctant, I must own 'tis Nature's voice,
28 That calls Miranda to so sad a choice:
29 For, oft at eve I 've seen the pensive maid
30 Reclin'd beneath the yew-tree's mournful shade,
31 Hanging enraptur'd o'er some moving tale,
32 Whilst pleas'd she heard the plaintive warbler's wail.
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33 If then, Miranda, you the Veil assume;
34 If you will seek the Convent's mournful gloom;
35 And the sad tale no abler Bard inspire,
36 Be mine the task to tune the plaintive lyre,
37 If verse like mine eternal fame could give,
38 Thy name, Miranda, should for ever live.

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Title (in Source Edition): TO MIRANDA, ON HER DETERMINING TO ASSUME THE VEIL.
Themes:
Genres: heroic couplet; address

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Berkeley, George Monck, 1763-1793. Poems: by the late George-Monck Berkeley, Esq. ... With a preface by the editor, consisting of some anecdotes of Mr. Monck Berkeley and several of his friends. London: printed by J. Nichols; and sold by Messrs. Leigh and Sotheby; Mr. Edwards; Mr. Cooke, Oxford; Mr. Todd, York; Messrs. Simmons and Co.; Messrs. Flackton, Marrable, and Claris; and Mr. Bristow, Canterbury, 1797, pp. 12-14. viii,DCXXXII,212p.,plate: port.; 4⁰. (ESTC T142950; OTA K111746.000) (Page images digitized by the 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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