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Familiar letters and poems on several occasions

By Mary Masters
Masters, Mary (ca. 1706-ca. 1759)

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Familiar Letters, &c.
  
[To wear away Time as we can, we full oft]
  
[O wou'd the Free-born Maids together join]
  
[Fear not my Genius to unfold]
  
[Fear not, Maria, to display]
  
[But this is the Effect of present Grief]
  
[That some there are, who regularly move]
  
[Though I feel no youthful Fires]
  
[An active Mind, and Spirits gay]
  
On Good Friday.
  
Another Passage from Petrarch.
  
[A shining Treasure from the World conceal'd]
  
[Had, hitherto, escap'd those Darts]
  
[Ye lovely Nymphs of Britain's beauteous Race]
  
[For early will the treach'rous Tempters come]
  
[For though fond Hope our Wishes oft deceives]
  
[Pride, that imperious Fiend too well I know]
  
[A Love which greater Transports can impart]
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POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.
  
A Morning ODE.
  
On the Nativity of our BLESSED SAVIOUR.
  
On Friendship.
  
To Miss H--- on her Marriage with Captain J---.
  
PSALM XXV.
  
An Answer to an Epistle sent me by a Gentleman on the Death of his Father.
  
On hearing a Sermon preached by the Reverend Mr ---.
  
PSALM XLII.
  
My Love describ'd to CAMILLA.
  
To the same on her telling me a very acceptable piece of News.
  
An EPISTLE to ---
  
A Second Epistle to the Same.
  
The Rose and other Flowers, a Tale; inscribed to a young Lady.
  
The ATOM and WASP; or Pride mortified.
  
On a FOUNTAIN.
  
Casim. Lib. i. Ode 2.
  
To SILVIO.
  
The various Pursuits of Mankind.
  
SPRING.
  
CATULLUS to LESBIA.
  
An Imitation of the foregoing Verses, by way of Reply.
  
Wrote immediately upon seeing the Behaviour of a Jealous Husband.
  
An EPIGRAM on a Person who constantly drinks a Dram when he goes to Prayers.
  
Verses sent by a Gentleman to the Author, desiring an Answer.
  
To the Gentleman who sent the above Verses.
  
An EXTEMPORE THOUGHT.
  
Return'd in Answer to a poetical Compliment from Miss ---
  
Wrote some Months after the Prince of Wales's Death.
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Four Speeches for four Boys, &c.
 1. 
HOPE.
 2. 
DESPAIR.
 3. 
LOVE.
 4. 
CONTENT.
  
On the PEACE.
  
To the Ladies at ---, having pass'd one Day with them.
  
To a Friend who tax'd me with too much Zeal in blaming her Fondness to an unworthy Lover.
  
To Miss ---, on her Birth-Day, at a Time when she was much distress'd.
  
Sent to a young Lady in Town, who had vow'd to die a Maid, in Answer to a Letter, where, in a Copy of Verses, she signify'd her Resolution, and desired an Account of the House and its Situation, in which a new married Lady of her acquaintance was settled.
  
An Answer to a poetical Letter from Miss ---, in which she informs me of a warm Debate, in a Senate of Ladies, upon the Question, Whether I had ever been in Love?
  
The Gentleman's Answer to a Song call'd the Lady's Reply.
  
Sent to Mrs ---, upon the Epiphany.
  
Upon the first Day of the Year.
  
PSALM CXLVI.
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SHORT EJACULATIONS.
  
['Tis Religion that can give]
  
[By Meditation, and by Pray'r]
  
[Whene'er I touch the sounding Lyre]
  
At the ALTAR.
  
A THOUGHT at first waking.
  
To a Lady on the New Year; by a Gentleman.
  
To the Rt Hon. Lady Viscountess IRWIN, on her Poem call'd Castle Howard.
  
CYDIPPE to LEONZO.
  
PSALM CI.
  
Written in a blank Leaf of Mrs Row's Works.
  
On a Lady who refused the Address of four Gentlemen eminent in their Profession, and died a Maid.
  
Presented to a Gentleman in danger of being in Love with a Woman of bad Conduct.
  
On a female Cat, named Selima, who fell into a China Cistern with Gold Fishes in it, and was drown'd.
  
The following upon the same Occasion, was wrote by a Lady, probably to Selima's Mistress, to comfort her for the Loss of her Favourite.
  
A Gentleman having read the foregoing Verses, ask'd what Reason could be given for Phœbus interesting himself in the Affair? This Question occasion'd the following Lines.
  
Wit rewarded, or the Double Triumph.
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An ODE on MUSICK.
  
[section]
  
Act II.
  
Address'd to a Lady (whom I had not then seen) on the Day of her Marriage with a Gentleman of my Acquaintance.
  
To the Author of the EPISTLE. To Mrs MASTERS and her Readers.
  
PSALM CXXXVIII.
  
An Epitaph found at Soulac, the Ancient Noviomagus, a Town in Guienne, a Province of France.
  
The Expostulation and Resolution.
  
An Hymn intended to be sung on Easter-Day.
  
PSALM CIV.

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The ATOM and WASP; or Pride mortified.

As late I took my Morning Walk abroad,
And on with slow majestic Paces trod;
My Pride broke out; “Of what Importance I,
“For whom Earth rose, and this unbounded sky.
“For me the Globe her golden Harvests pours,
“And pays her annual Debt in Herbs and Flow'rs;
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“For me by Day revolves yon Globe of Light,
“And Moon and Stars were made to gild my Night.
“Creatures that Land and Air, and Ocean fill,
“Are all dependent on my awful Will;
“Pierc'd with my Shaft, the Lion roars and dies,
“And Whales stretch breathless, if my Jav'lin flies.”
As thus from Vaunt to Vaunt Ambition ran,
Swell'd with the lordly Character of Man;
A Wasp dash'd on me with audacious Wing,
And on my Lip infix'd its venom'd Sting.
An Atom in that luckless Moment too,
Whirl'd in the Wind upon my Eye-Ball blew;
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The tow'ring Fancies sunk, and pungent Smart,
Gush'd from my Eyes, and stung me to the Heart.
At last recov'ring—“Shall presumptuous Man,
Child of the Dust, and bounded to a Span,
Array himself in Pride's imperial Robe,
And boast a Sov'reign Empire o'er the Globe.
Know, Mortal, know, if thou assum'st the Rod,
And dar'st audacious snatch the Reign of God;
Atoms shall, unreveng'd, insult their King,
And Insects wound thee with tyrannick Sting.
G
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