The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld | ||
[O born to soothe distress and lighten care]
O born to soothe distress and lighten care,Lively as soft, and innocent as fair!
Blest with that sweet simplicity of thought
So rarely found, and never to be taught;
Of winning speech, endearing, artless, kind,
The loveliest pattern of a female mind;
Like some fair spirit from the realms of rest,
With all her native heaven within her breast;
So pure, so good, she scarce can guess at sin,
But thinks the world without like that within;
Such melting tenderness, so fond to bless,
Her charity almost becomes excess.
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And Beauty praised, and brutal Strength be feared;
But Goodness only can affection move,
And love must owe its origin to love.
The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld | ||