[Poems by Botta in] Memoirs of Anne Charlotte Lynch Botta written by her friends with selections from her correspondence and from her writings in prose and poetry |
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 | [Poems by Botta in] Memoirs of Anne Charlotte Lynch Botta written by her friends |  |
234
LARGESS.
Go forth in life, O friend, not seeking love;
A mendicant that with imploring eye
And outstretched hand asks of the passers-by
The alms his strong necessities may move.
A mendicant that with imploring eye
And outstretched hand asks of the passers-by
The alms his strong necessities may move.
For such poor love, to pity near allied,
Thy generous spirit should not stoop and wait,
A suppliant, whose prayer may be denied,
Like a spurned beggar's at a palace gate!
Thy generous spirit should not stoop and wait,
A suppliant, whose prayer may be denied,
Like a spurned beggar's at a palace gate!
But thy heart's affluence lavish, uncontrolled,
The largess of thy love give full and free,
As monarchs in their progress scatter gold.
And be thy heart like the exhaustless sea,
That must its wealth of cloud and dew bestow,
Though tributary streams or ebb or flow.
The largess of thy love give full and free,
As monarchs in their progress scatter gold.
And be thy heart like the exhaustless sea,
That must its wealth of cloud and dew bestow,
Though tributary streams or ebb or flow.
| [Poems by Botta in] Memoirs of Anne Charlotte Lynch Botta written by her friends | |