A Postscript unto the Reader (Michael Wigglesworth Poems)
And now good Reader, I return againTo talk with thee, who hast been at the painTo read throughout, and heed ...
And now good Reader, I return againTo talk with thee, who hast been at the painTo read throughout, and heed ...
AS o'er their wine one day, three gossips sat,Discoursing various pranks in pleasant chat,Each had a loving friend, and two ...
Philosophy.Happy the Man, who, studying Nature's Laws,Thro' known Effects can trace the secret Cause:Who, without Fear, his certain Fate can ...
-A RhapsodyOf all the various lots around the ball,Which fate to man distributes, absolute;Avert, ye gods! that of the Muse's ...
To you, dear Youth, whom all the Muses own,And great Apollo speaks his darling Son,To you the Muse directs her ...
In vain, dear Madam, yes in vain you strive; Alas! to make your luckless Mira thrive, For Tycho and Copernicus agree, No golden Planet bent its Rays on me. 'Tis twenty Winters, if it is no more; To speak the Truth it may be Twenty four. As many Springs their 'pointed Space have run, Since Mira's Eyes first open'd on the Sun. 'Twas when the Flocks on slabby Hillocks lie, And the cold Fishes rule the wat'ry Sky: But tho these Eyes the learned Page explore, And turn the pond'rous Volumes o'er and o'er, I find no Comfort from their Systems flow, But am dejected more as more I know. Hope shines a while, but like a Vapour flies, (The Fate of all the Curious and the Wise) For, Ah! cold Saturn triumph'd on that Day, And frowning Sol deny'd his golden Ray. You see I'm learned, and I shew't the more, That none may wonder when they find me poor. Yet Mira dreams, as slumbring Poets may, And rolls in Treasures till the breaking Day: While Books and Pictures in bright Order rise, And painted Parlours swim before her Eyes: Till the shrill Clock impertinently rings, And the soft Visions move their shining Wings: Then Mira wakes,— her Pictures are no more, And through her Fingers slides the vanish'd Ore. Convinc'd too soon, her Eye unwilling falls On the blue Curtains and the dusty Walls: She wakes, alas! to Business and to Woes, To sweep her Kitchen, and to mend her Clothes. But see pale Sickness with her languid Eyes, At whose Appearance all Delusion flies: The World recedes, its Vanities decline, Clorinda's Features seem as faint as mine! Gay Robes no more the aching Sight admires, Wit grates the Ear, and melting Music tires: Its wonted pleasures with each sense decay, Books please no more, and paintings fade away, The sliding Joys in misy Vapours end: Yet let me still, Ah! let me grasp a Friend: And when each Joy, when each lov'd Object flies, Be you the last that leaves my closing Eyes. But how will this dismantl'd Soul appear, When stripp'd of all it lately held so dear, Forc'd from its Prison of expiring Clay, Afraid and shiv'ring at the doubtful Way. Yet did these Eyes a dying Parent see, Loos'd from all Cares except a Thought for me, Without a Tear resign her short'ning Breath, And dauntless meet the ling'ring Stroke of Death. Then at th' Almighty's Sentence shall I mourn: "Of Dust thou art, to Dust shalt thou return." Or shall I wish to stretch the Line of Fate, That the dull Years may bear a longer Date, To share the Follies of succeeding Times With more Vexations and with deeper Crimes: Ah no — tho' Heav'n brings near the final Day, For such a Life I will not, dare not pray; But let the Tear for future Mercy flow, And fall resign'd beneath the mighty Blow. Nor I alone — for through the spacious Ball, With me will Numbers of all Ages fall: And the same Day that Mira yields her Breath, Thousands may enter through the Gates of Death. (Mary Leapor)
A. In God, the Father, whose Almighty Pow'r Did heav'n, earth, sea, into existence call, I do believe, and ever will adore Him, ...
BOCCACE alone is not my only source;T'another shop I now shall have recourse;Though, certainly, this famed Italian witHas many stories ...
How I succeed, you kindly ask;Yet set me on a grievous Task,When you oblige me to rehearse,The Censures past upon ...
Where tender love mens hearts did move unto a sympathy,And bearing part of others smart in their anxiety;Now such compassion ...
Tho' Rhyme serves the Thoughts of great Poets to fetter,It sets off the Sense of small Poets the better.When I've ...
Moon that so fairly risest from the crown Of yon high oak, and wast so fondly pray'd To fill thy orb with ...
Plac'd on the verge of youth, my mindLife's op'ning scene survey'd:I view'd its ills of various kind,Afflicted and afraid.But chief ...
Calm was the even, and clear was the sky,And the new budding flowers did spring,When all alone went Amyntas and ...
Some of my friends (for friends I must suppose All, who, not daring to appear my foes, Feign great ...
THO' to Antiquity the Praise we yield Of pleasing Arts; and Fable's earli'st Field Own to be fruitful Greece; yet ...
Strephon, whose Person ev'ry Grace Was careful to adorn; Thought, by the Beauties of his Face, In Silvia's Love ...
IN Lombardy's fair land, in days of yore, Once dwelt a prince, of youthful charms, a store; Each FAIR, with ...
'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill Appear in Writing or in Judging ill, But, of the two, ...
When I beheld the Poet blind, yet bold, In slender Book his vast Design unfold, Messiah Crown'd, Gods Reconcil'd Decree, ...
Dorinda When Death, shall snatch us from these Kids, And shut up our divided Lids, Tell me Thyrsis, prethee do, ...
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