Farewell! ye Nymphs, who range the humble Plains;
Henceforth a nobler Subject swells my Strains;
Aid all ye Muses; all your Strength combine;
For in dear Polly all the Muses shine.
When on the Stage you act the moving Part,
My Ears and Eyes conspire to rack my Heart;
I gaze, I listen; and in Doubt am lost
Which happy Faculty is ravish’d most;
Thy Charms transport me, while I bless thy Voice,
And in the general, loud Applause rejoice.
Through every Scene thy rigid Fate I moan,
And in thy soft Distress forget my own;
Domestick Charges, Courtly Bills unpaid,
Increasing Taxes and declining Trade,
Debts, Pensions, Bribes no more disturb my Mind,
And ev’n the Coal–Act leaves no sting behind.
With Thee when Lucy dares dispute the Prize,
On the vain Slut I fix my scornful Eyes;
Contempt and Rage my throbbing Heart invade,
And from my Soul I curse–the Saucy Jade!
When bound in Chains the great Macheath I see,
Betray’d and sentenced to the fatal Tree,
Moved with thy Tears, my Patriot–Fires decay,
And publick Zeal to private Love gives Way,
Compassion rises for the Robbing Race,
And, for thy Sake, I beg an Act of Grace.
But shall my Lips, against the righteous Laws,
Vouchsafe to plead a publick Robber’s Cause?
Ah! no–since Justice dooms him to the Cart,
Let him be hang’d, that I may gain thy Heart–
Yet how can I expect thy Heart to gain,
When Nobles sigh and Ribons glare in vain?
Once more I long, with unexampled Art
To see Thee act this dear, delightful Part;
When not in vain thou shalt thy Fate bemoan,
The Rapture ours, the Benefit thy own.
Close in my Purse a Guinea, golden–bright,
I keep reserved for that expected Night;
More would I give!–but what my Stars deny,
Let Courtiers and contending Peers supply.
Nor groundless is the Hope–with Joy I see
Courtiers and Peers contend in praising Thee;
Sooth’d with thy British Notes and warbling Flights,
The Patriot and Pensioner unites.
Ev’n thy own Sex thy shining Charms extol,
And, young or old, acknowledge pretty Poll;
While Envy is itself in Wonder lost,
And Factions strive who shall applaud Thee most.
(Nicholas Amhurst)
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