Matthew Prior. Dialogues of the Dead and Other Works in Prose and Verse. The Text Edited by A. R. Waller |
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VERSES
Spoke to the
Lady
Henrietta-Cavendish Holles Harley,
In the LIBRARY of
St. John's College, Cambridge
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 | Matthew Prior. Dialogues of the Dead and Other Works |  |
VERSES Spoke to the Lady Henrietta-Cavendish Holles Harley, In the LIBRARY of St. John's College, Cambridge
November the 9th, An. 1719.
Madam,
Since anna
visited the Muses Seat,
(Around Her Tomb let weeping Angels wait)
Hail Thou, the Brightest of thy Sex, and Best,
Most gracious Neighbour, and most welcome Guest.
Not Harley's Self to Cam and Isis dear,
In Virtues and in Arts great Oxford's Heir,
Not He such present Honours shall receive,
As to his Consort We aspire to give.
(Around Her Tomb let weeping Angels wait)
Hail Thou, the Brightest of thy Sex, and Best,
Most gracious Neighbour, and most welcome Guest.
Not Harley's Self to Cam and Isis dear,
In Virtues and in Arts great Oxford's Heir,
Not He such present Honours shall receive,
As to his Consort We aspire to give.
Writings of Men our Thought to Day neglects,
To pay due Homage to the Softer Sex:
Plato and Tully We forbear to read,
And their great Followers whom this House has bred,
To study Lessons from Thy Morals given,
And shining Characters, impress'd by Heaven.
Science in Books no longer We pursue,
Minerva's Self in Harriet's Face We view;
For when with Beauty we can Virtue join,
We paint the Semblance of a Form Divine.
To pay due Homage to the Softer Sex:
Plato and Tully We forbear to read,
And their great Followers whom this House has bred,
To study Lessons from Thy Morals given,
And shining Characters, impress'd by Heaven.
Science in Books no longer We pursue,
Minerva's Self in Harriet's Face We view;
For when with Beauty we can Virtue join,
We paint the Semblance of a Form Divine.
76
Their pious Incense let our Neighbours bring,
To the kind Mem'ry of some bounteous King,
With grateful Hand, due Altars let Them raise
To some good Knight's, or holy Prelate's Praise;
We tune our Voices to a nobler Theme,
Your Eyes We bless, your Praises We proclaim,
St. John's was founded in a Woman's Name:
Enjoin'd by Statute, to the Fair We bow;
In Spight of Time, We keep our antient Vow;
What Margaret Tudor was, is Harriet Harley now.
To the kind Mem'ry of some bounteous King,
With grateful Hand, due Altars let Them raise
To some good Knight's, or holy Prelate's Praise;
We tune our Voices to a nobler Theme,
Your Eyes We bless, your Praises We proclaim,
St. John's was founded in a Woman's Name:
Enjoin'd by Statute, to the Fair We bow;
In Spight of Time, We keep our antient Vow;
What Margaret Tudor was, is Harriet Harley now.
| Matthew Prior. Dialogues of the Dead and Other Works | |