To Mrs. M—S.

Pardon, much honour'd Fair! this humble lay,
 Nor scorn the tribute Gratitude may pay;
 No rapturous Muse e'er warm'd my rustic breast,
 Nor dare I own the bright exalted guest:
 Far flies the Muse where radiant Science reigns,
 Inspires the soul, and elevates her strains;
 Then rapture, melody, and sense conspire,
 And Phoebus fiercely twangs the sprightly lyre;
 Far let her fly — if Gratitude be mine,
 Her voice shall match the whole harmonious Nine;
 The full-fraught heart, with fiercer ardors rise,
 And pierce, resistless, thro' yon azure skies;
 Nor pauses short of the Celestial Throne,
 But seeks the ear she's certain is her own;
 There loudly sounds — a voice by Mercy given,
 Whilst echoes vibrate thro' the vaults of Heaven,
 There sounds your name, while list'ning Angels bend
 The well-tun'd harp, and to the tale attend. 
In that great day when mingled nations stand —
 Some wish, some dread Jehovah's last command,
 Shall not my little ones, with ardour raise
 Your plaudit high, who prop their infant days;
 Whose voice has call'd them from the depths of woe,
 Suppress'd the sigh, forbad the tear to flow? 

Low on the earth, by anguish crush'd, I lay —
 I mourn'd the night, nor hail'd the coming day,
 When bright Aurora tipp'd the Eastern skies,
 Hearts bless'd with plenty bade the Goddess rise;
 Not so with me — to Misery resign'd,
 On her cold lap my wretched head reclin'd;
 Around, grim horrors take their ghastly stand,
 And Famine executes her dire command,
 Nor once relents; — the tear reluctant flows,
 Not for my own, but for my infants' woes:
 The Stoic's sullen gloom had fill'd my soul,
 Forbad the sigh, and check'd the tears that roll;
 Ev'n smiling Hope, soft soother of the mind,
 Like Milton's Guardian Angel, had resign'd
 Her charge as lost; homeward to Heaven she flies,
 And grim Despair, and all her furies rise;
 O, dismal Fiend! to thee I give the world,
 From all its joys, and shadowy visions hurl'd;
 The contest o'er, eternal worlds are mine,
 Where ransom'd spirits taste repose divine.