 | Miscellanies in Prose and Verse |  |
3
A SONNET. TO A LADY OF INDISCREET VIRTUE.
In Imitation of Spencer.
While you, fair Anna, innocently gay,And free and open, all reserve disdain,
Wherever fancy leads securely stray,
And conscious of no ill, can fear no stain,
Let calm discretion guide with steady rein,
Let early caution twitch your gentle ear;
She'll tell you Censure lays her wily train
To blast those beauties which too bright appear.
Ah me! I see the monster lurking near,
I know her haggard eye and pois'nous tongue,
She scans your actions with malicious leer,
Eager to wrest and represent them wrong:
Yet shall your conduct, circumspect and clear,
Nor baleful touch, nor fangs envenom'd fear.
| Miscellanies in Prose and Verse | |