[Page [106]][Page 105]
To a Friend.
Written in M DCC XC.
1 AH, say not, young Shepherdess, I am to blame,
2 When I tell you the swains are untrue;
3 Nor think that each youth is possess'd of a flame
4 Who swears he's devoted to you.
5 The artful Lysander, his love is exprest
6 In accents so winningly sweet,
7 As might tempt the fleet moments delighted to rest
8 Inactive, their pleasure-wing'd feet.
9 Gay Damon will tell you, though splendid the sun,
10 'Tis not half so brilliant as you;
11 And thus in a strain of high compliments run,
12 Perhaps not a syllable true.
13 Aricius walks stately and proud o'er the plain,
14 In the mirror his image he'll view;
15 But when you appear, even Aricius the vain
16 Enraptur'd kneels captive to you.
17 But, dearest Lamira, may you never prove
18 With humiliation this truth:
19 That interest governs their actions, not love,
20 That your gold has more charms than your youth!
21 In vain lavish Nature had spread o'er your cheek
22 Those roses unsullied by Art;
23 In vain from your eyes sprightly Genius might speak
24 The thoughts that ennoble your heart —
25 Had not Fortune, indulgent, embellish'd each grace
26 With varnish that never can fade;
27 Whose lustre, when wrinkles shall alter your face,
28 Shall throw a new light o'er the shade.
29 Enough of the youths of Arcadia I've told,
30 Nor further intend to advise;
31 Lamira may fancy my censures too bold,
32 But my pen paints the heart, not the eyes.
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Source edition
Manners, Catherine Rebecca, Lady, 1766 or 1767-1852. Poems by Lady Manners. Second edition. London: John Bell, 1793, pp. [106]-105. 126p. (ESTC T173070)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. 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.
Other works by Catherine Rebecca Grey, Lady Manners
- Albert and Cecilia, a Norman Tale. ()
- The Child Of Sorrow. ()
- Eugenio and Eliza, a Tale. ()
- Gertrude. ()
- Lines Addressed to a Mother in Ireland. ()
- Lines on the Late Partition of Poland. ()
- On a Child. ()
- On Leaving Lehena, in October, M DCC LXXXVIII. ()
- On Leaving Steephill, August, M DCC XC. ()
- On Parting with a Mother, in M DCC XC. ()
- On Returning to Lehena, in May, M DCC LXXXVIII. ()
- On the Same. ()
- On the Same. ()
- Osmond and Matilda, A Tale. ()
- Reflections on the Prevalence of Fashion. ()
- Semira. ()
- Sent with Some Poems. ()
- To Adversity. ()
- To Contentment. ()
- To Hope. ()
- To Sensibility. ()
- To Solitude. ()
- Virtue. ()
- Written at Steephill, in the Isle of Wight, August, M DCC XC. ()
- Written in the Winter of MDCCXCI, Whilst on Barnet Field. ()
- Written in Winter. ()
- Written on Leicester Abbey. ()