University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
Nugae Modernae

Morning thoughts, and midnight musings: consisting of casual reflections, egotisms, &c. In prose and verse. By Thomas Park
 
 

collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TO MRS. W.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


109

TO MRS. W.

ON HER WEDDING-ANNIVERSARY.

Full fair and white she is, and White by name,
Whose white doth strive the lily's white to shame:”
So sang a nameless bard of elder time,
When gay conceits first stray'd from Latian clime.
His antique song let me this day repeat,
And, free from flattery, thy nuptials greet:
Since I but praise the tincture of a skin
For its clear reflex of the mind within.
I do but call the cheek of matron fair,
Because a maiden-blush still lingers there,
And through the lily's fairness can disclose
The soften'd radiance of the vermeil rose.

110

O Modesty! best grace of female minds;
Thou surest charm that still the husband binds
To live the lover,—may thy power impart
Life-long affection to each wedded heart,
Even to mine—though widowed now it be—
For still it loves, dear Wife! still loves thy purity.
 

The concetti of the Italians were imported to us with their style. See poems by “Uncertain Authors,” first printed with those of the Earl of Surrey, in the year 1557.