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271
TO THE AUTHOR'S MOTHER, DURING HER ILLNESS, 1797.
“To rock the cradle of declining age,”Pope, was thy fervent wish! Nor, Hayley, less
Thy glowing heart the filial prayer effus'd.
Tho' at an humble distance I admire
Your genius, may I rival, matchless pair!
Your sacred piety; while now, from years
Enfeebled, a much-valued parent claims
My duteous care; while a kind sister calls
To her assiduous “charity” that aid
Fraternal, which can only soothe her grief,
As she surveys the pallid eye that smil'd
On us once playful innocents—the hand
Tremulous, that led us up the steepy paths
Of life—the fainting breast yet fraught with love!
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