 | Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell |  |
9
SONNET IX.
No more, fond Father of a much-lov'd Child,
Let thy sad heart, big with paternal fears,
Dread the rude storms, that wait his riper years;
A Friend, who knows him generous, brave, and mild,
By Pride unspoil'd, by Flattery unbeguil'd,
True to his promise, faithful to his trust,
Blind to his own, to others merit just,
Nor stain'd with Folly, nor with Vice defil'd,
And zealous still in Honour's arduous way
To emulate the race his Sire has run,
Tells thee, that if kind Heaven prolong his day
To mourn thy ashes, when thy life is done,
Thy fame shall live unconscious of decay,
And all thy virtues flourish in thy Son.
Let thy sad heart, big with paternal fears,
Dread the rude storms, that wait his riper years;
A Friend, who knows him generous, brave, and mild,
By Pride unspoil'd, by Flattery unbeguil'd,
True to his promise, faithful to his trust,
Blind to his own, to others merit just,
Nor stain'd with Folly, nor with Vice defil'd,
And zealous still in Honour's arduous way
To emulate the race his Sire has run,
Tells thee, that if kind Heaven prolong his day
To mourn thy ashes, when thy life is done,
Thy fame shall live unconscious of decay,
And all thy virtues flourish in thy Son.
| Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell | |